


A Parliament Of Owls

by Mystury



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Child Abuse, Gun Violence, Hitman AU, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Torture, asexual!kenma, one-sided kenhina, sexual harassment but not really, violence in general read the warnings kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-05-25 02:50:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 43,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6177232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystury/pseuds/Mystury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Someone's following me."<br/>"Akaashi get out of there, immediately!"</p><p>-</p><p>There's this scary moment when you realize that you are no longer the hunter but the one being hunted.</p><p>(Full title: A Murder Of Crows, A Parliament Of Owls And A Glaring Of Cats)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

"Excuse me but is this seat taken?"

Akaashi looked up from the counter, a charming smile gracing his lips while he leaned forward slightly and propped his elbow up to rest his cheek in his hand. "It isn't", he answered the tall man, who was holding a glass in one hand and a rose in another.

_White, huh?,_ the smaller man thought, concentration running high as he recalled the chart that hung on the entrance of the dimly lit club. Vanilla, interesting but definitely nothing special. His hand reached for his own blue flower, the pedals shimmering in the shallow light, _open for everything._

The man was now fully seated next to him, his glass, probably whiskey but Akaashi couldn't be sure, on the surface in front of him. "So what is a boy as beautiful as you doing here?", he asked, sly grin dancing over his features. "Aren't you too young to for this kind of scene?" The black haired male pretended to be sheepish and adverted his eyes in a shy fashion. "I am allowed to be here", he answered, disgust running through his veins but not showing on his face. This stranger couldn't care less if he was legal or not, and they both knew it.

_"That bastard",_ a voice in his ear snarled and another hushed it but Akaashi knew that he was right, he did not know that Bokuto was currently in contact with him though, he was pretty convinced that it was Kenmas turn tonight.

A hand sneaked onto his thigh and he flinched out of surprise, wide eyes looking up to find the strangers face only mere inches from his own, predatory eyes seizing him up, taking him in. "I'm Hirato by the way, it's a pleasure to meet you." His breath reeked of alcohol and cigarettes and Akaashi couldn't help but compare the smell to a grave yard, because that's exactly what those lips were but instead of recoiling he just smiled back with a polite "Nika."

Persistent fingers danced up his skin, sneaked under his shirt and protruded into his too tight jeans. "Nika, huh? Sounds foreign", Hirato said, no curiosity what so ever in his voice, only demand. Akaashi had stop himself from slapping the mans hand away and maybe kicking him once or twice where it would certainly hurt. "My mom is from Greece, she gave me the name", lies, a little too emotionless to sound convincing but the other male was already far too gone to notice anything off.

There was some rumbling in Akaashis headset and for a second he was scared that the connection had cut off but than there was an unmistakably angry voice that clearly belonged to Bokuto. _"If he lies his hands on you one more time I will tear them off."_

Carefully as to not be noticed the black haired man tapped his ear twice, a signal, before he turned his head and buried his hands in Hiratos surprisingly soft hair and leaned forward, lips barely gracing the strangers as he carefully exhaled and as the other adult tried to dive in and get more he just turned his head away.

"How about we take this somewhere else?", he whispered, half lidded eyes even more closed than usual, nimble fingers demanding. "I have a key." "No, no, I know a better place", Akaashi smiled and mentally prayed the other male wouldn't put up a fight, he really didn't feel like creating a scene right now, there were too many people around and he couldn't be bothered to make a mess.

So he just stood up and wrapped his hand around the others elbow without waiting for his answer and hurried through the mass of bodies towards the exit. Out of the corner of his eyes he could spot two tall figures watching them, following and a real smile danced over his face. Everything went according to plan.

_"Tsukishima and Kuroo are eight seconds behind you, move to Place B immediately, no further actions needed."_

Indeed, everything went according to plan and a small buzz of excitement washed over him as the stuffiness of the club was replaced with cool night air and instead of dim lights and annoying music only the muffled sounds of a beat run through the abandoned streets.

"This way", he informed the older man and led him into a small ally next to the entrance, not a single person around to witness anything strange happening here. The second they reached the end of the one-way street he let go of Hirato and pushed him hard against the wall. Shock danced over the features of the man and a breathless "What?" escaped his lips just as Kuroo and Tsukishima rounded the corner.

"What the hell?", anger now tinted his voice red, confusion radiating from his face as his eyes wandered from Akaashi to the two men and back.

"You are Hirato Atsushi, is that right?", Akaashi asked, all playfulness and bashfulness vanished from his voice, only cold, hard eyes remaining. "Teacher at Sakura Elementary?"

The man nodded a bit dazed, realization washing over him. "I didn't do anything wrong, let me go!" "I'm afraid we can't do that, you see, a _very_ worried mother asked us for help", Kuroo butted in, signature smile set onto his face, his hands reaching downwards under his shirt and in one swift movement he pulled out his gun and shot, no sound rang through night except for the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground, blood seeped onto the concrete and left dark red and brown streaks. Akaashi cringed in disgust.

"Seriously, Kuroo? We could have just strangled him or something, why do you always have to be so violent", he asked, pulling a tissue out of his pocket to carefully wipe away whatever splatters made it to his partners face.

"I am pretty sure any kind of killing is considered violent", deadpanned Tsukishima with a pointed look over the rim of his glasses. "He only has your DNA on him, right?" Akaashi hummed as confirmation and the blonde seemed satisfied with that. "Alright then let's go, Kenma is probably getting annoyed that we're taking so long."

The smallest man out of three sighed. "Shouldn't we at least clean up a bit? What about the person who'll find him?" Bokuto groaned into his ear and murmured something that sounded impatient but Akaashi couldn't make out the exact words.

"Nah, let's just go. Anyone up for Ramen?", Kuroo asked and slung his arm around the black haired mans waist. With one last hesitant glance to the corpse the other male complied and walked with them out of the ally and down the street.

Bokuto and Kenma were waiting for them in a beat up Jeep with tinted windows and washed out stickers on the bumper. Akaashi was pretty sure that the white-black haired man was responsible for them but the dorky looking dinosaurs made him think twice.

Exhausted he fell into the front seat and closed his eyes as he let his head rest against the cool window, behind him he could hear Kenma and Bokuto pack up their equipment, while Tsukishima got into the drivers seat. He looked over to Akaashi, his usual indifferent demeanor changed into one of concern. "Did he touch you?", he asked, voice low as to not get the attention of the other three men on the backseats.

The smaller male just turned his head and smiled reassuring. "A bit but it's fine", he said. "I'm just glad that the bastard's dead, god knows what he would have done or already did to the kids in that school. Our client had every reason to be worried, even though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have touched her daughter."

Tsukishima made a sound in the back of his throat that reminded the other of a growl, he understood it though. None of them particularly liked rapists, especially not pedophiles. It were missions like this that made their job worth it.

"So", Kuroo said loudly and leaned forward. "What about Ramen? There's this new place near campus and Iwaizumi says that it's to die for." "Wouldn't have picked him as an eat-out person, to be honest", whispered Kenma softly and already turned his phone back on. "Oikawa probably dragged him there", Tsukishima added and started the car. "But yeah, Ramen sounds good with me." The other boys made a sound of agreement and it was settled.

The drive was mostly quiet except for Kuroo, who was changing into Bokutos jacket and zipped it up to not raise suspicion with the red splatters on his white shirt. Thankfully he wore dark jeans on which you could barely make out the stains in the first place. Akaashi himself wore all black, so he didn't have to clean up, while Tsukishima stood in a wide enough distance to not get dirtied at all.

"We're kinda cold, aren't we?", Bokuto finally broke the silence. "I mean we just killed a man and now we're gonna eat soup, isn't that a bit fucked up?" 

Akaashi let his eyes wander, despite it being three in the morning the streets were still busy, it was like this city never slept and the man loved it. He lived here since he was a child, grew up with flashy lights, that always lightened up the streets and made it impossible to make out the stars, with foreign tourists who spoke in languages he could not understand, they looked differently and it made him curious and excited. All he ever wanted was to be in a place big enough to swallow him whole with enough people to make his name seem insignificant and that's exactly what he got.

"It's our job", Akaashi finally answered and turned his head to look at one of his boyfriends. "It's what we always did, right?"

 

 

The Ramen place was a small, run down shop in one of the dirty side streets close to the big, white university building that Iwaizumi, Oikawa and Kenma attended.

To everyones surprise Kuroo and Bokuto actually managed to graduate early, in social studies and art, while Akaashi had decided not to continue with school after he got his high school diploma due to personal reasons. Sometimes he regretted that decision and even thought about signing in for evening classes but then they would get a new mission and stain their clothes with fresh blood and suddenly everything career related seemed insignificant pointless.

Kenma had offered him before to teach him some advanced programming to go with his already basic skills and even attempted to teach him German, which the small boy was fluent in, but Akaashi always had the same answer.

These conversations often occurred while the black haired mans hands were stained with hair dye and a small glimmer of excitement lightened up the smaller boys usually dim demeanor. For some reason, that the others couldn't quite grasp, Kenma ha developed something close to a hair dye addiction in his third year of high school.

Of course he had started bleaching when he was fifteen but changing parts of himself in such a drastic way that just begged people to stare it him was very uncharacteristically of the man.

Akaashi was glad in some ways though, he felt like it made Kenma more comfortable in some ways, he laughed more often, wasn't as tense in public as he used to be and even reduced his self consciousness to a certain point.

And as the five men entered the bright restaurant the pretty boy couldn't help but feel happy.

 

 

The arrived in their tiny apartment at exactly five AM and Kenma was in his room before the others had even taken off their shoes.

"Must be tired", Kuroo commented and hung his -or rather Bokutos- jacket on one of the coat hangers. His shirt was still bloody and Akaashi was kinda sad that they would have to throw it away, seeing as the stains had already dried and were therefore practically impossible to wash out.

Tsukishima carefully stepped away from them into the kitchen and let himself fall into one of the chairs, they had a hard day but thankfully their client paid generously, so they didn't have to worry about getting a new mission any time soon.

Their business was all figured out, officially they were an IT-Company which also handled bigger things such as special software engineering and custom design, so it was easy to explain the huge sums of money they received on a regular base. To this day, they had worked clean, Akaashis DNA was the only one the police knew and seeing as he never got caught doing something wrong they couldn't find out who he was. Even descriptions from witnesses were pretty vague. All they knew was that one of them was pretty and one tall, Kuroo often got overseen due to his catlike abilities to just disappear in crowds and Kenma and Bokuto always did the planning and the technological part and were therefore never really seen during one of their jobs.

Tsukishima had to admit, sometimes it was hard to do it, sometimes killing became hard and sometimes the guilt was so overshadowing that he didn't know if he could keep doing it but he had three amazing boyfriends who supported him with every step he took and even offered him to just drop out a few times and he was so so thankful for that.

He snapped out of his thoughts when pale arms wrapped themselves around his neck and a face came to rest on his shoulder. Carefully he put one of his hands on them and turned his head to face a mob of black, curly hair. "Hey", he said quietly and pressed his lips onto Akaashis soft skin. "Hey", was the equally quiet answer. "Come to bed with me?"

Tsukishima nodded and stood up, trying hard not to make the other male pull his hands away and succeeded. 

The shower was running, probably Kuroo, and Bokuto was already changed and crawling into their shared bed. Akaashi removed his arms to open their big closet and pull a T-Shirt out, one of Tsukkis, how the other noticed with delight, and stripped to his boxers before putting the cloth on and lying down next to his other boyfriend. 

The blonde man was a little slower but he was just taking off his glasses when Kuroo came in and softly closed the door behind him, Bokuto was already knocked out and snoring loudly while spooning Akaashi and the other two couldn't help but smile. They were lucky guys for sure.

"Could you maybe close the blinds before you come in?", was Tsukishimas last request before he slipped under the cover next to the black haired male and buried his nose in the others soft locks. Kuroo just hummed but did as told before he lied down as the last one, arm sneaking around the blondes waist and a content look on his smile.

"Good night." "Love you."

 

* * *

 

 

The next day Akaashi woke up alone. 

The sheets next to him were still warm and the smell of tea and tamagoyaki wafted through the air and the young man snuggled back into the sheets, a smile gracing his tired face.

He knew that it was probably already afternoon and he should go out and scold his boyfriends and Kenma for making omelettes in the middle of the day instead of getting their sleeping schedule under control but he was so comfortable and their room still smelt so much like warmth and home that it was hard to even think about leaving.

Akaashi was already slowly drifting back to sleep when the door opened up with a loud creak and an overexcited "Morning, babe!" The next moment a very heavy body dropped onto his and the smaller male couldn't help but groan while Bokuto showered his face with small pecks. "We made breakfast without burning the house down", pride radiated from the man, who was still completely obvious to the others complains.

"Bo, come on, he just woke up", Kuroo had the fucking nerve to laugh. With the bit energy he owned Akaashi rolled around, despite the heavy body covering him, and flipped the smug looking man off.

A small gasp traveled through the room. "You hurt me, Aka-chan." "Call me that again and I'll show you how I can hurt you." Bokuto grinned against his collarbones and it was that exact second that Akaashi knew he fucked up. "Kinky." More groaning and more laughing from Kuroo.

"No, but seriously I don't trust Kenma alone in the kitchen, let's go", suddenly everything stilled as realization washed over the smaller man. "You left Kenma alone in the kitchen? With the stove running?", he didn't even wait for an answer as he scrambled up and unceremoniously shoved Bokuto off him. Before the other two fully knew what happened he had already left the bedroom.

And indeed, just how Akaashi expected -and feared- Kenma sat on the counter, his DS in a firm grip while the eggs next to slowly turned a dark brown. With a quick gesture he grabbed the pan and moved it into the sink, the omelette thankfully still edible.

He looked up to where the smaller man glanced carefully at him, blue strands of his dyed hair hanging over his eyes and an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry", he whispered and immediately turned back to his game, Pokemón as far as the other could see.

Akaashi sighed heavily and began scraping the eggs onto one of their bigger plates and placing it on the kitchen table. Then he moved the boiling tea from the stove and filled it into his favorite can before also setting out the needed cutlery and plates.

"Where's Tsukki by the way?", he wondered out loud after a while, he hadn't seen his blonde boyfriend since he woke up. "He's getting coffee for Kenma and himself", Kuroo ha just walked through the open door and quickly bent down to give Akaashi a soft kiss on his lips. Suddenly the black haired male was glad that he didn't really have any morning breath.

Kuroo already tried to stand up again but the smaller man wrapped his arms around the others neck and started to move his mouth lightly against the others. Warmth spread through his mouth, onto his cheeks and colored him a soft hue of red all the way down to his neck and he couldn't help but let a happy sigh escape his throat.

"Gross", commented Kenma, even though the other two were pretty sure he hadn't even looked up.

 

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow the second he entered the kitchen barely ten minutes later.

Akaashi was flushed and had a giddy smile on his face, which was already surprising enough but judging by the disgruntled look Kenma wore, Bokutos pouting and Kuroos smug grin, he could be pretty sure what happened while he was gone.

Sighing he set down the steaming paper cups and took a seat next to the white-black haired male, who immediately put a possessive hand on his thigh.

For a second Tsukishima looked around before he whispered a small "Itadakimasu." and grabbed some leftover tamagoyaki. Kenma thanked him quietly for the coffee and returned to his game, just to be scolded by Akaashi. "Kenma-kun, this kind of behavior is considered rude, please, we talked about this", but the blue haired boy just gave him a pointed look before adverting his eyes back onto his display. "You're hopeless, all of you."

"Rude", Bokuto butted in, mouth full of food but not bothered in the least by his boyfriends disgusted groaning.

"So", Tsukishima started, successfully changing the topic. "I ran into Trashkawa at Starbucks-" "Please don't call him that." "-and he told me that Lev and Yaku have recently returned from Russia." Kuroo hummed in acknowledgement. "That's nice, did their negotiations go well?" "Apparently, they even worked out new work relations which is really good for Aobe Johsai and stuff, but his daddy is still pissed."

"Wait, what? Who's daddy is pissed, did I miss something? Or is Iwaizumi just into some kinky shit?", Akaashi awkwardly patted the side of Bokutos head to get him to shut up, surprisingly enough it worked, he had to remember that.

"No, he's talking about Toorus actual father, Detective Oikawa", he explained just to be met with three pairs of wide eyes. "Wait you didn't know?" Head shakes. "Well, like you may know Iwaizumi and Oikawa have been dating since their high school years but Toorus parents weren't exactly .. accepting, so he-" "So he started one of the biggest drug cartels in japan to spite his daddy, like, everyone else would look completely ridiculous while doing something so over the top but somehow that kind of pettiness fits to Trashkawa." "Tsukki, _please_."

"Anyways, apparently he met of with him for dinner to talk things out and it actually went pretty good, until", Tsukishima smirked and shoved his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Until they started talking about Iwaizumi and it seems like the Tokyo Police Department has a few leads about him being involved with Aobe Johsai and started ranting about how he knew that he would be a bad influence on Oikawa-" Akaashi sighed happily at the right use of his friends name. "-and how he could do so much better without the, insert bad word often used to either refer to cigarettes or homosexuals starting with f here."

Bokuto scrunched his eyebrows together in concentration while the Akaashi and Kuroos eyes widened in shock, Kenma didn't seem to be listening. 

"Could you maybe repeat the hints again", the white haired male whined loudly just to gain a soft punch into his side by both of his black haired boyfriends. A breathless "Rude." was the last thing that fell from Bokutos lips.

Akaashi was the first one to look back to Tsukishima, worry clear in his eyes while his lips were set into a narrow line. "How did he take it?" Tsukishima laughed quietly and took another sip of his steaming coffee, Kuroo knew that it was ninety percent milk and sugar, the blonde boy wasn't fooling anyone.

"You know Trashkawa,-" A soft groan. "-he arranged one of their biggest deals so far and even leaked parts of the information, while Iwaizumi was at the police station giving a statement. They will probably let him go now with that alibi and I have to admit that it was pretty smart but knowing that drama queen he probably did it out sulk."

Akaashi thought about disagreeing but he knew that it was probably true. Oikawa could be a little extreme if he wanted to.

"But that isn't even the best part", Tsukki said with the face that Bokuto and Kuroo described as- "Oho ho, someone's ready to spill some tea." Yeah that. Them getting tumblr was the worst decision they made so far, according to Akaashi.

He was a good person, he didn't deserve bad memes and even worse puns.

The smaller man was brought back to attention when the blonde dramatically leaned forward and put on his smug smile, that he definitely got from Kuroo. "Apparently his new routes cross with Shiratorizawa and I don't know about you but I don't think Ushijima will just let him pass through like this."

Kenma laughed quietly and all eyes jerked towards to him. "Hate to disappoint but Ushijima adores Oikawa for whatever reason."

Disappointed sighs traveled to the room just to be quickly scowled by Akaashi. "Stop being so happy about others misfortune, it's not only rude but also really mean."

"Aw man, I thought we would hear Akaashi swear", complained Bokuto. "You heard me swear before", irritation now tinted the others voice. "Yeah but like, you don't really do it much, you know? It's just really, how do you say-" "Hot." "Yeah, exactly, thanks babe!" Akaashi wasn't sure if he should be mad, flattered or annoyed when his boyfriends high-fived.

Looking for help he turned towards Tsukishima, his only reasonable boyfriend, who watched the exchange closely. "Sorry", he started and the black haired boy already felt disappointment rushing through his veins. "But it actually is hot." "I had faith in you, Tsukki. How could you betray me like this?"

The other just shrugged. "Love you, babe." 

 

 


	2. Two

Sighing Akaashi dug up yet another pair of plug-in headphones from beneath the sofa cushions, he didn't even know how they got there seeing as Tsukishima usually listened to music on their shared bed or in the car but apparently that was only like that when his boyfriends were around.

The black haired male knew that he would make some discoveries while cleaning, he had known that bunch of idiots since he was fifteen after all, but this time definitely took the cake. He found single cat socks between empty bullet shells behind the TV, as already mentioned around seven pairs of headphones, two or three console games stuck behind books and even a crudely sewn owl plushy under the fridge that stared straight into Akaashis soul with its disarranged button eyes -he threw that one away, don't tell Bokuto.

He wasn't really sure what motivated him to do this in the first place, maybe it was the fact that they didn't have a job for a week now and he was beginning to feel restless, or that one of his boyfriends went to visit some old friends, including his ex, in his home town while the other two went out nearly every day and left him all alone. Well, Kenma was there when he didn't have any classes but that just meant some muffled laughter echoing out of his room here and there and maybe a dirty dish or two in the sink. It also wasn't like Bokuto and Kuroo neglected him on purpose, they even invited him to come with them quite a few times but there was only so much hyperactive gushing over birds a person could handle.

Also he didn't like zoos that much, he preferred going to local pet stores and staring at kittens while his boyfriends tried to resist his puppy eyes.

So far no cat, but that was only a matter of time after all.

Exhausted Akaashi let himself fall onto the sofa in the midst of tangled headphones and took a deep breath. The truth was he felt really lonely, he had three boyfriends constantly around him so it wasn't like he was used to being alone for such a long time but at the same time he didn't want to say anything, he wasn't that selfish. He wished he was though, he really did.

He wished he could demand cuddles without a shame in the world like Bokuto or just lean into someones side and start making out like Kuroo or even do that wicked smile Tsukishima somehow learned to do that got him laid in seconds, wasn't Akaashi supposed to be the pretty one or something? How could his boyfriends resist him?

Groaning he turned around and buried his face in the cushions. Maybe he inhaled too much of that window cleaning stuff because his thoughts were nothing like himself.

He reached out with his left hand and grabbed his phone from the bookshelf that was set up next to the sofa and selected one of his most recent texts.

It was from Tsukki, just a simple _love you_ and _sleep well_ not even accompanied by any kinds of emoticons and in perfect grammar. From everyone else it would have sounded angry or annoyed or even loveless but Akaashi knew better than that and it filled his heart with warmth that his boyfriend went out of his way just to send a message like this, that he always claimed to be _unnecessary_.

 _'I miss you',_ he typed into the small text box, the words feeling heavy as they slipped from his fingertips into the small device and for a moment he found himself hesitating. Akaashi groaned and shook hos head softly from one side to another before he deleted the sentence and instead wrote _'I love you too, hope you're having fun!'_. It didn't feel as honest.

He stayed there for a bit, just lounging on the coach in a half cleaned flat while scrolling through his phone. Bokuto and Kuroo had uploaded a picture of them and a very disgruntled looking goat. Who even went to the zoo to see goats? What the fuck? Also he had received a text from Oikawa, asking him if he was up for going out the next day.

He attached a small picture of a bunch of red and white kittens with the caption _'The cat café had babies, are u convinced already or should i send more pics?'_

Obviously Akaashi was already convinced.

 

 

Three hours later the black haired male stood in the kitchen, absently stirring tomato soup in a softly simmering pot while drying his hair with a white, fluffy towel that hung around his neck. The shower had felt goo against his dirty and sweaty skin and left him feeling accomplished and content.

Somehow he managed to finish the flat without too many additional surprises but he also didn't dare to look under their bed or into Kenmas room so there was that.

He expected Kuroos and Bokutos arrival so it wasn't really a surprise that the doorbell rang, they probably forgot their keys again it wouldn't have been the first time but he was taken aback when he glanced through the peephole and was met with bright orange hair and excited, brown eyes.

Hesitantly Akaashi opened up and the newcomer seemed to falter a bit. "Oh sorry, I was looking for Kozume Kenma but I probably missed a door or something", he said not sounding sorry in the least. "No, Kenma lives here, should I go get him?", Akaashi was confused, very confused, Kenma never mentioned anyone from outside their small, mutual social circle.

He turned around to get the smaller boy from his room but was already met with bright blue hair and nervously tangled hands. "It's okay", he said softly and squeezed past the black haired male to greet the stranger.

It was obvious that they knew each other by the way they spoke so Akaashi decided to go back to the kitchen and finish dinner. "You can stay for dinner if you want to", he said before disappearing back to the stove where his soup had began boiling and with a small curse falling from his lips he turned down the heat.

He had already set the table and roasted some bread in olive oil by the time the door fell shut and before he knew it two strong arms wrapped themselves around his middle and lifted him up into the air.

A shocked shriek escaped his lips as boisterous laughter sounded behind him and helpless he grabbed the hand on his waist. "Bokuto", he tried to scowled the older man but his own giggles betrayed him. Soft hair tickled his neck when the other pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder blades.

"Hey babe, we're back." "I noticed it", Akaashi answered a small snort falling from his lips.

"Honey, I'm home!", the next idiot barked into the kitchen, Kuroos arms were theatricality lifted above his head and it made the smaller man laugh even louder. "What happened to your hair", he asked with tears in his eyes and mentioned to tangled mess that sat on the others head. "A goat tried to eat it", Kuroo answered and stood on his tiptoes to press a soft kiss on his younger boyfriends lips. It didn't even surprise the other.

Slowly Bokuto set him back onto the floor but let his arms stay on the others hips. "You should go and make yourselves decent, Kenma has a guest over", Akaashi sad softly and smoothed his hands over the others shoulder and chest as to straighten out any wrinkles.

"No way", his two boyfriends exclaimed.

"Yes way and now hurry up before it gets cold and get them from Kenmas room when you come back, alright?", without another word the two darted out of the room, Akaashi sighed and sat down. Five years. He's been with these idiots for five years.

Ten minutes later six people were gathered around their large kitchen table and Kenmas friend seemed to be very uncomfortable with Kuroo and Bokuto flanking each sides of him. Akaashi sighed. "Give him space", he said with a pointed look and took a sip from his water, his boyfriends seemed to feel slightly betrayed.

"But Keji-" "I will make you both sleep in the living room when you don't behave." That seemed to shut them up and the orange haired boy was very obviously relieved.

"Oh, I'm Hinata by the way", he exclaimed then. "Hinata Shouyo!" "Ah, I'm Akaashi Keji and these idiots-" He pointed at his boyfriends. "-are Bokuto Koutaro and Kuroo Tetsurou, I wish I could say that they are usually more, how do I say this, normal? But that would be a lie."

Bokuto clutched a hand to his his chest. "You hurt me Akaashi. I thought you loved me, were these last five years really for nothing? Was it all a lie?" Kuroo sat up a little straighter, smug smile on his lips. "Guess he only loved Tsukishima after all, Tsukki will be delighted to hear this."

Akaashi groaned and let his head hit against the wooden surface of the table.

"So", interrupted a small voice. "Are you really all dating?" Hinatas amber eyes shone with curiosity and amazement and it made the black haired males stomach fill with warmth.

"Well, Kuroo, Bokuto, Tsukishima, who isn't here right now and I are dating", he answered softly, his voice was slightly muffled due to his face still being plastered against the table but is words were loud and clear. "That's so cool!" Bokuto laughed and Akaashi couldn't see it but he knew that he was throwing his head back.

"I know right? Fucking awesome." Kenma sighed and shoved another spoonful of soup into his mouth, it was kinda weird to know that he apparently got along with someone like Hinata, who was loud and excited over everything, while the other was quiet and reserved. Akaashi smiled, his lips breaching the cold surface, maybe they completed each other. They would have been a cute couple, but he didn't say that, of course he didn't.

 

 

Later on Akaashi found himself lying on his two boyfriends on the sofa while Hinata and Kenma were sprawled out on the floor, blankets and food wrappers surrounding them. A Marvel movie was running on the TV but the small man barely paid any attention.

After all his head rested  on Kuroos lap and nimble fingers were rubbing soft circles into his temple and hairline, while Bokutos hand was placed on his knees under the blanket and he could feel the soft vibrations from both of their bodies whenever they laughed. It was nice, really nice but Tsukishima was missing.

Through half lidded eyes he watched the smallest two out of the bunch and noticed how close they lied next to each other, legs tangled together and Kenmas head rested against the others chest.

He smiled, knowing and sad. It sure would hurt when Hinata realized he had no chance.

Akaashi just hoped that he would be as understanding as he seemed so far and would treasure their friendship more than some fleeting feelings. He would hate seeing the blue haired man get hurt and he didn't particularly felt like dirtying his hands on someone who could be traced back to them but he would do everything to protect his friends.

Speaking of friends. "Hey, I'm meeting up with Oikawa at Nekoma tomorrow, apparently they have kittens", he mentioned, the fingers in his hair stilled. Akaashi barely suppressed a small whine but Bokuto already started talking, "What does he want?" The younger man sighed. "You know, friends can meet up without any ulterior motives." "Yeah but it's _Oikawa,_ last time you met up he asked you to-" Kuroo interrupted him with a pointed finger towards the tangled bodies on the floor. "Anyways, who knows what he wants, we should come with you."

"Bokuto, you don't even like cats", Akaashi deadpanned. "Yeah but I would endure them for you, babe, so-" "No." "Akaashi-" "No." "Oh babe, come-" "No, one more word and you're sleeping on the coach."

That seemed to shut him up but it was clear that the black and white haired man was more than dissatisfied with that result, after all he just wanted to protect his younger boyfriend from the badness that was Oikawa Tooru. He was a devil, Bokuto swore on it, a devil clad in too tight jeans and dorky T-Shirts. The perfect disguise.

Thankfully the topic didn't come up again until they were all ready for bed, Hinata had left a short while ago and peace returned to the small household.

Akaashi was reading in bed clad in a shirt that was too big to be his and his eyes focused on small printed characters, Bokuto was taking a shower so Kuroo was the only one with him at the moment.

A small sigh disrupted his concentration and his gaze left the pages just to glare up to the older man. "Are you really sure you should be going?", Kuroo asked and sat down next to Akaashi, his hand carefully reaching out for the others cheek. "Not you too", the other man whined and put his book away, full attention on his boyfriend now. "You do know that I am a big boy, right? I can take care of myself. Also please stop making Oikawa the bad guy in everything, it's been ages since that incident."

"I just don't want you to get hurt, and neither does Bokuto." "What about Tsukishima?" "Especially Tsukishima."

Akaashi looked at his skeptically before he let his eyelids fall shut and his head lean into Kuroos palm. His breathing evened out and for a few moments he just sat there, enjoying the close proximity of one of the men he loved and let his thoughts drift.

A thumb started rubbing his cheekbones exactly in the way he liked and a smile of familiarity graced his lips. "You can come", he whispered. "Just don't harass him, alright? I don't think he's as fine as he pretends to be at the moment." "Of course."

Soft lips pressed themselves onto Akaashis forehead, breath that wasn't his own tingling his hairline and the warmth radiating from both bodies mingling in between them. A soft exhale and some rustling of the light blue comforter that the black haired male loved was the only thing that disturbed the silence.

The smell of rain lingered in their room, from when Bokuto had opened the window earlier, fresh and light and clean, it felt like the water had washed away all the toxic smog of the city and bathed them in a peaceful afterglow. Orange and rosé light mixing on the white walls and the shadows contrasting harshly against their pastel themed furniture.

Summer truly was amazing, especially how long the sun stood on the sky.

Akaashis hands found their way around Kuroos neck and softly tugged him closer until the smaller mans legs were wrapped around the others waist and strong hands firmly placed on his hips. He let his face sink in the crook between neck and shoulder and he could feel the shiver that ran through his boyfriend when his lips graced his tan skin.

"I love you", soft words mumbled against his hair, muffled and quiet and personal. Akaashi smiled and closed his eyes, simply enjoying the happiness that stirred in his gut and made him feel lightheaded. "I love you too."

At that exact moment their door slammed open and a positively dripping Bokuto marched in. "Oho ho?", was his only comment as he saw his two boyfriends in their intimidate pose.

Kuroo groaned annoyed and let his body fall back against the sheets, taking the smaller man with him and for once Akaashi didn't feel the need to disagree. 

Bokuto started dressing himself into a T-Shirt and some sweats while he kept shooting glances at the entangled bodies on their shared bed. "So, I'm assuming you didn't do the sexy stuff", he said, grin spreading over his face as he walked over and let himself fall next to them. "What else did you do then."

"Just spending some quality time with my pal, isn't that obvious bro?" "I thought the bro thing died when we started fucking", Akaashi groaned, oblivious to his boyfriends gasping. Bokuto excitedly started poking Kuroos arm, long fingers digging deep into the others flesh. "Akaashi just swore, did you hear that Tetsu, he swore." The addressed man laughed. "So blessed, so moved, so grateful. Can't believe this is my life. Never going to take it for granted, always going to give back."

"Is that a Tumblr thing?", Akaashi asked annoyed and slowly rolled from Kuroos chest down onto their mattress to lie between the two men. "Ye, even though it's technically a Twitter thing but memes are usually the biggest on Tumblr and then after a few months Facebook will take them and ruin everything, it's a shame." The black and white haired man nodded in agreement, a grim face set in place. Apparently memes were serious business.

"Yeah, let's pretend I understood that", Akaashi deadpanned.

"We totally should make you and an account Keji!" "Please don't." "You would so run an aesthetic blog", Bokuto nodded excitedly. "What is this? From murder to memes in seconds notice?", Akaashi complained but his small smile betrayed him.

The still wet male gaped at them. "Wait, you were talking about murder? I thought we were on holiday." Akaashi sighed and turned his head towards his oldest boyfriend. "Bo, just because we aren't preparing for a mission doesn't mean we're on holiday, we've talked about this", the younger man explained calmly. "Yeah, technically we are just free workers, moving from one job to the next with clients we chose ourselves", Kuroo added.

Bokuto sat up then, pout firmly set in place as he turned his body so that he sat cross legged facing the other men. "So we're not on holiday, I get it", he said, frown deepening. 

Akaashi laughed quietly and crawled towards the black and white haired man, so that he could comfortable rest his head in the others lap while staying curled up. "We could go somewhere for a vacation someday, that would be like a holiday, right?" Immediately the older man perked up again.

"Really?" Now it was Kuroos turn to chuckle. "Sure, Tsukki wanted to go to america since he was a teenager, something about Jurassic Park, I think." 

"America sounds good, how about we take one more job and then we figure out the details?", Akaashi hummed, satisfied about his own plan. "I am sure Kei will like that too."

That night the three men spent closer together than usual. It was way too hot, they were all sweating like crazy and overall it was pretty disgusting, but love makes you blind to things like that, right? At least that's what Akaashi thought.

 

 

The splatter of milk doused into his tea like a storm cloud and mixed beautifully with the earthy green water.

Oikawa had ordered a hot chocolate and the whipped cream on top was carefully decorated with cocoa powder, so it looked like a cat. Also there were two plates with half eaten baked goods positioned in front of them on the small table. Life was good.

The two men were lucky that they got a booth in the corner of the usually very busy, small coffee shop but apparently there was a festival somewhere in town and people who had free time on their hands chose to go there instead of the cozy cat café.

Akaashi himself couldn't imagine being happier anywhere but there at the moment, two tiny orange kittens with white paws were stretched across his lap and slept peacefully, while another fully grown cat snuggled against his side on the bench. Tooru held another new born against his chest, cooing softly at it. That one was a pale grey and also with white paws but its ears had a nice ombré like color fluctuation that gradually grew darker the closer it got to it's tips.

"I'm gonna call him Comet", the older man whispered proudly. "Like the reindeer?" "Ke-chan, you ruined it", Tooru whined in response. "Now I can't call him Comet anymore, great. Hm, what about Radiant?" "Radiant? That sounds even worse", the black haired male answered.

Oikawa puffed his cheeks up in concentration, nimble fingers holding the small creature in a soft grip. "Nadir?" 

Akaashi tried to sigh but all that came out was a bubbly laugh. "Are all your name ideas space related?" "Well, obviously. Space is the greatest and therefore space names are the awesomest", somehow the boys shirt that was printed with a dark night sky and made up constellations made him look just a little bit more ridiculous than the statement he just had made.

"So Iwaizumis name isn't awesome?". the younger boy teased, taking a sip from his slowly cooling tea. 

"Hajime means something like beginning, I think, or wound but I'm not sure, so it's still awesome, because everything about Iwa-chan is awesome", he said matter of factly, pinky finger stirring his own beverage.

"But anyways, how have you been? I see you're boyfriends are still as dumb as they've always been, do they really think I didn't notice them?", Oikawa added, directing a glare to the two men a few tables away from them who just buried their faces deeper into the menu. Akaashi laughed. "It's good, we had a job last week that ran really smoothly." 

The older man hummed quietly and carefully placed the now asleep kitten onto his bony knees. 

"The one with the pedophile?" The other nodded. "I hope you hurt him good, fucking disgusting people." Another laugh. "Kuroo shot him right when we got in a secluded area, I'm glad though, you know how Bokuto gets. But how's Iwaizumi doing? Getting arrested probably threw him off of his game."

Oikawas expression darkened. 

"He pretends that it didn't do anything to him but I've known him for way too long to fall for that bullshit, you know?" Akaashi nodded, of course he knew. "And I'm really worried that he might to something stupid because he's trying to protect us and the others but he won't talk to me about anything, it's frustrating." A deep frown etched itself in the usually beautiful features. 

Akaashi carefully reached across the table to let his hand rest on the others, the kittens on his lap made a small sound of discomfort but quickly settled down again. 

"I am sure that he is just doing what he deems necessary at the moment", he smiled reassuring as big, amber eyes looked up to find his own. "Iwaizumi is really good at keeping a cool head and we both know it, so just do him and the rest of your team a favor and do the same, alright? They need you fully collected and rational right now."

Oikawa nodded slowly and Akaashi pretended he didn't hear the shocked gasps of his boyfriends. Being openly affectionate wasn't really his kinda thing but he would always make an exception for a distressed friend.

"That's .. That's not everything though", the older man said then, volume lowered as his gaze dropped and his eyes got hidden by his bangs.

"It's about my dad, apparently he kept the investigation up even when the police department dropped it. As far as I know he has some pretty solid leads that will get him eventually tangible proofs. Not only about Iwa-chan but also about Yaku, Lev, Kyoutani and Yahaba, and some of the smaller men, he's getting really close and I am not sure what he will do when he finds out that I've been behind this all the time. All I know is that it probably won't be me who'd get the worst punishment and I just can't let any of them get hurt, you know?"

"They would only go to jail, right?", Akaashi furrowed his brows, suddenly the comfort in the pit of his stomach was replaced with ice cold dread, anticipating the answer. 

Oikawa inhaled deeply. "I messed with some other gangs", he admitted, "Scary, big guys who've been in this business way longer than me. If one of my people gets thrown in prison, they sure as hell will kill them and I just can't, I can't-"

His voice broke in a quiet sniffle.

Akaashi waited for a second, thought the whole situation over before he extracted his hands and leaned back against the soft cushions. "So what exactly do you wan't me to do?"

"Please take my job", Oikawa whispered, "Please kill my dad and destroy the files."

 

 

 

 


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The motto of this fic is 'From memes to murder in seconds'
> 
>  
> 
> (lmao I'm sorry)

_A staircase, rain was running down the windows, everything seemed grey and slow, like a stone sinking in honey._

_Akaashi couldn't breathe, his mouth opened up and he wanted to scream but no sound emitted from him, his lungs filled with something sticky, like oil or sugar and suddenly his eyes overflowed with desperation._

_He blinked, once, twice before he could see his surroundings again, the edges still seemed blurry but there were wooden blocks on the carpet he sat on, a doll with a predatory smile was leaning against one of the small rooms corners and for some reason the kid couldn't grasp a single thought, his head screamed at him._

_Wait._

_The kid?_

_The scenery changed again, a mirror was propped against a window, make up was strewn around it, clothes and pieces of paper were thrown across the floor._

_There was a teenager in a closet, his cries muffled due to his hands that were clasped over his mouth tightly, his knees hurt from his awkward sitting position and it felt hard to breath._

_His eyes closed and he counted to fifteen._

_He counted to fifteen._

_Fifteen-_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akaashis eyes flew opened and his upper body moved into a sitting position so fast that his head started spinning and his gaze grew blurry. Where was he? It was too warm, he felt too disorientated and the brightness that cut through the otherwise dark room blinded him.

Soft lips pressed against his forehead and out of instinct he flinched away, hands covering his face as he took deep breaths and tried to force his vision to sharpen.

"Sorry, it's just me, didn't mean to wake you", a quiet voice spoke and the confused male froze. "Tsukki?", he breathed out and reluctantly dropped his hands. He could see more now that his eyes had started to adjust to his environment, there were glasses reflecting the light coming from the hallway and a suitcase lying in front of their shared closet. A loud snore echoed through the room and the blonde smiled slightly.

"Hey", another kiss landed on his face, this time his lips and he could feel the corners of his mouth twitching. "I'll just go changing and come right back, alright?", Tsukishima seemed tired, what was to be expected, due to the long train ride from Miyagi to Tokyo.

Akaashi could feel himself nodding, his mind was a sleepy haze and in his tired state he had already forgotten what originally woke him.

He turned around and crawled towards Bokuto, who was sprawled over the entire mattress, taking up most of their space, with Kuroo clinging to one of his arms, and sleepily rested his head on the older mans chest. He made space for the blonde, so that he could just slip behind him, because Akaashi knew how much of a pain it could be to sleep next to Kuroo. He kicked in his sleep.

He was already dozing off again when he felt the mattress dip and a long arm draped itself over his waist, he felt a slow exhale against his hair and then a nose carefully nudging his head.

With a content smile Akaashi Keji fell back asleep, this time without any dreams waking him up.

 

 

"And it's beautiful."

Akaashi groaned, he needed more tea, black tea, the blackest tea anyone could find. Maybe he should give coffee another try, would the caffeine still be there if he drowned the bean juice in milk and sugar?

Apparently there was a new video that went viral and his two oldest boyfriends loved it. "We literally live in Japan, why did you even watch that?", Tsukishima asked annoyed, his hair was still messy from sleeping and he hadn't bothered to put on his glasses yet, he looked good.

It was ten am in the morning and Kenma was currently at his university while the other four inhabitants of the apartment were sitting in the living room, the news were running on TV but nobody really paid attention to it. Kuroo was sat in one corner of the couch with Akaashi leaning back against his chest, hands wrapped around a steaming cup, while Tsukishima sat on the other side, legs lazily tangled with his boyfriends and Bokuto sat on the floor while facing the others.

"Yeah, we all had to take history in school", the smallest of the bunch agreed. "How about I do anyway?", Kuroos smug face was too much in the morning.

Tsukishima kicked him softly, obviously because he was tired, not because he didn't want to hurt him or anything, that would be ridiculous.

"So did anything happen while I was gone?", he then asked, leaning back into the cushions again. Akaashi looked around searching for help but his boyfriends just pretended not to see him.

"Actually yes", he then started hesitantly. "First of all, you own too many headphones, you have an addiction Tsukki, but that's actually not what I wanted to say." He laughed nervously. "We have a new job." The blonde looked up, curiosity clearly displayed on his features. "It's from Oikawa-" "No."

Kuroo hummed satisfied but the small man just sat up straighter and looked at Tsukishima with pleading eyes. "It's important, just hear me out please." The blonde raised an eyebrow, lips set into a thin line. "Continue."

Akaashi took a deep breath, collecting himself before he started to speak. "Toorus father has evidence of Aoba Johsai, not only Iwaizumi but also Yahaba, Lev, Yaku, Kyoutani and so on and jail isn't an option due to obvious reasons." Oikawas rivalry with other gangs was actually very known of.

"So?" "Tsukki, they would die", Akaashi insisted. "Also you never liked the old man anyways, wasn't he the one who called us-" "Keji, I know that we should take the job out of personal reasons but Oikawa is still a fucking cop and I won't risk the life of one of you just to get some petty revenge or save the ass of someone I don't even like", Tsukishima was angry, his calm face was stoic and his eyes were burning. "Remember the last mission Trashkawa sent us on? You nearly died, Bokuto was completely aloof and Kuroo was this close to giving our identities away. Just realize that he's using you, okay?"

The small man opened his mouth but closed it quickly as he felt warmth pressing in his eyes, the scar on his stomach ached and he knew that the blonde was right but for some reason he couldn't let it go.

"What about Yaku?", he asked, voice thick with tears he refused to let fall. "He would break without Lev and we both know it, they are each others only family. And what about Yahaba, do you really think he would just go on without his partner? And even the other way around, Lev would be lost, Kyoutani would lose it, and I know that empathy isn't your strong side but just imagine the pain you felt back then and try to imagine what they would go through." "You're not being fair." "I know. But it's the truth isn't it?"

Tsukishima clenched his teeth, his eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed deeply conflicted, Akaashi knew that what he said hit hard, Bokuto wouldn't look up from the floor and it seemed like Kuroo has stopped breathing.

"I still don't think this is a good idea", the blonde finally mumbled but his resigned smile was answer enough.

A relived sigh escaped the black haired males lips and he carefully set his cup down, from which he surprisingly didn't spill anything, and crawled over to his boyfriend and buried his head in the others chest. "Thank you", he whispered and he meant it.

"I mean, at least we're going to Orlando after this is finished, right Akaashi?", Bokuto interrupted and whipped back and forth from where he sat on the floor.

Tsukishima perked up. "Orlando?" "Surprise, babe, we're gonna watch the dinosaurs", Kuroo added and gave him a thumbs up. Akaashi chuckled softly. "We were planning on figuring out the details before we told you." The blonde held the man in his arms just a little bit closer.

"I love you all so much." And somehow the sentence felt like more than just gratefulness.

 

 

"Alright, the house has a main door and a glass door that leads to the yard, one of those fancy slide things, ya know? There are also four windows on the first level and eight on the second. Cameras are installed on the front wall facing the street and on the back facing the yard. Oikawa gave us the security code so we won't have to worry about that. No pets, his wife is currently on a business trip in Europe and his daughter lives in China, Tooru will be out with Iwaizumi, Yahaba, Kyoutani, Lev and Yaku somewhere with a lot of people and cameras, so they won't be suspected", Bokuto basically shone with pride as he looked up from his laptop.

"Good job, Bo", Kuroo added from where he was perched up on the kitchen counter. Akaashi, who sat on one of the kitchen chairs beside Tsukishima nodded in agreement. 

"We could shoot the front camera and the just lock pick the front door", the blonde suggested. "Or shoot the one on the back and smash in the glass door, that's risky though, we don't want to wake him after all."

Akaashi hummed softly before he propped his elbow up and leaned his face into the palm of his hand. "How about we lock pick the door first, go in and turn of the alarm, kill him and get the files and then we just get the tape from the camera? I don't really feel like taking the risk of our handler getting discovered and we already left way too many bullets lately." "Yeah, but it's a  lot harder to get the tape, who knows if the camera isn't connected to a server or something?", Tsukishima said and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Or", Kuroo now interfered and hopped down from the counter he sat on before he leaned over Bokutos shoulder and pointed on something on the screen. Akaashi stretched his neck to see the blueprint of a one family house that was currently pulled up and tried to understand what the lines meant. "We could go in through the kitchen window, their garden fence is only around the backyard and the cameras don't catch that side, plus there's a shop on the other side of the road, if I'm not mistaken, and therefore nobody will be there when we get in", the tall man seemed very satisfied but Akaashi couldn't help but being skeptically.

"What about the alarm? Also what if there's stuff on the windowsill or under it? It would wake Oikawa up", he commented.

"Well, Keji, we still have the code now, haven't we? Also I am pretty convinced that their windows aren't protected with an alarm, rookie mistake but surprisingly common, you see. Plus we are both very athletic, do you really think a pot or a picture frame could stop us?", he grinned his signature smile just as Tsukishimas hands flew onto the tabletop.

"No way, I'm going in with you, Akaashi can stay with Bokuto in the car", the blonde argued, deep lines carving themselves into his forehead. Bokuto seemed reluctant when he opened his mouth. "But Akaashi isn't as skilled technical wise and we already agreed that Kenma won't have to come", he started. "Tsukki, you are the only one who knows how to hack the police radio, I kinda need you in the car."

"No" "Tsukki, please-" "No, there's no way that I'll let Akaashi anywhere close a policeman." "Tsukishima-" This time the blonde interrupted Kuroo with nothing but a glare.

" _Kei_ ", Akaashi then said, half lidded eyes strict. "I am the best shooter out of us, plus I am the only one who's combat skills aren't limited on video games." Bokuto and Kuroo gasped softly. "So I will be going in and I will kill him before he even knows that we're in his house. I know you're on the edge because it's Oikawa but in the end it's a mission like every other, we'll be okay."

The small man hesitated for a second before he turned towards the blonde and let his hand rest on the others thigh. 

"Just trust me with this, alright?" Tsukishima still seemed conflicted but he gently intertwined his one hand with the others. "Alright. But the second anything seems wrong, you're getting out of there, okay?"

"Okay."

The blonde seemed uncertain before he sad quietly. "Promise?" Akaashi smiled. "Promise."

Tsukishima smiled uncertain before he squeezed Akaashis hand one last time. "Let's do this."

 

 

Darkness was a weird concept when you were used to constant light.

Even in the suburbs of Tokyo the bright and constant flow of neon signs and street lights and shops and restaurants and so on dwindled down drastically and left Akaashi in a kind of awe that he didn't know he was able to feel before.

There were stars and that was what shook the young man the most. Stars, how bizarre is it that there are people out there who saw them on a daily basis in such a large quantity? No, scratch that. There were people on the countryside who saw even more at this very moment. Tsukishima had seen more not even a week ago.

It was weird to think about.

There are things that seem so abstract and curious and exotic to us but in reality they are every day things for other people, regular things, things that are not worth addressing.

Akaashi sighed and leaned his head against the cool glass of the car window and let his eyes slip close. He felt the vibrations of the engine against his skin, heard the soft turning of wheels and the telltale rustling of stones that sprung across the street to give them space to drive.

Existing was weird. Being a real human being with feelings and history, with people that relate to oneself, was weird and Akaashi wasn't sure if he liked it yet. 

He felt someones hand slipping onto his leg and quick glance to his left confirmed his suspicions. Kuroo just smiled.

"Hey", he whispered and tentatively slid closer, his usually uncontrollable bedhair was straightened out and tied back in a tight bun, Akaashi felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards and he quickly raised a hand in front of his mouth to try to stop his giggles. The other man pouted. "Hey", he repeated again, this time with the vowel drawn out and an offended tone. 

"Sorry", the younger squeaked desperately, all traces of his existential crisis forgotten as he took in the ridiculous state his boyfriend was in.

They had decided to do this a long time ago, more out of reasons for protection and less possibilities of being recognized than anything else but it still cracked the others up like nothing else. 

It wasn't even that Kuroo looked bad, quite the opposite actually, but it was so unfamiliar that it was shocking. He just looked different, extremely different. (In times like these Bokuto was immensely happy that he did the technical aspect of missions, he would probably cry if someone abused his hair like that -it wasn't like Kuroo didn't cry the first time they did it but they had a silent agreement to never talk about that faithful day.)

"Stop bullying my boyfriend", Bokuto then complained from where he rode shotgun and craned his neck in a way that sure as hell wasn't healthy. Tsukishima slapped his thigh jokingly. " _Our_ boyfriend."

The white and black haired man seemed to be offended for a second before he caught himself and instead asked. "Is it still far? We've been driving for forever."

"An actual five year old", Akaashi whispered in awe and Kuroo laughed softly.

They came to the conclusion that Kuroos plan was the best in the end, get in through the kitchen window, disable the alarm, kill Oikawa senior and then get the files. It sounded easy, or at least easier than most of their missions.

Usually they had to rely on public spaces for assassinations, due to their lack of background information but this time the whole thing was a bit different. Akaashi had been to the house for a few occasions before actually, like birthdays or family gatherings that Tooru invited him to, so he had a rough idea of the general layout of the place.

"Fifteen minutes, Keji", Tsukishima said after a few moments of silence and shot a pointed look through the side mirror. "Do it on both."

Akaashi nodded and pulled a big, black bag up from where it rested next to his feet and unzipped it just to reveal two of their smaller handguns and a few silencer. Without missing a beat he took them out of their safety cases and screwed the silencers onto the barrels of the guns.

They planned to take him out without raising any kinds of suspicions and then just leave him there until his wife returned.

It was easy to blame his death on someone else, he was a detective after all and therefore had more enemies than one could count, plus Tooru told them that his father actually didn't get along with most people, which just further lowered their risk of getting discovered themselves. 

The atmosphere started growing tense, next to Akaashi Kuroo started unpacking Bokutos laptop and the small device that was supposed to disturb any kind of radio signal in their proximity, the older man always did that before they parked the car to reduce the time they spent on a location.

Outside of the window small one family houses with carefully trimmed yards and lovingly arranged beets came into view and Akaashi couldn't wait to shatter their perfect little worlds.

He hated it, he hated those families that looked so damn perfect but actually were rotten to the core, he hated their plays of pretend and hide and seek and those carefully kept secrets that were tightly shut away with threats and shattered bottles and screaming voices.

The car stopped.

"Time to mess lives up, huh", he whispered, Kuroo shot him a confused look.

They exited the car in one smooth motion, their heads held low and their dark clothes blended seamless into their environment, everything was silent and it seemed like their shoes on the concrete were the only thing that disturbed the peaceful night.

There was a rustling in both of their ears from where Bokuto had turned on his own headset and then a quiet voice. "The radio signal got disturbed, you should be fine to go in now."

Akaashi nodded and carefully lifted his own metal device and shoved the flat wire through the small crack between window and windowsill. His skilled fingers twisted and turned until their was a small sound of something breaking and without hesitation he reached out and pushed the glass up.

His hands gripped the wood tightly before he lifted himself up and slid through the small opening, his feet landed with grace and in a kind of silence that would make dancers pale in jealousy.

Kuroo was next but he didn't have any problem fitting through the window either, but instead of staying upright he took the momentum and let himself fall down in a squat like position, his hand braced in front of him to keep his balance.  

 _Showoff_ , Akaashi thought and allowed a small smile to tug on the corners of his mouth before he turned his full attention back to the task at hand.

Apparently Kuroo was right when he said that the window wouldn't've been connected to the alarm system and Akaashi sighed in relieve.

The kitchen they stood in was small but comfortable, white cupboards were hung up over clean counter tops and pots and pans were hung up in a way that made Akaashi wonder if anyone actually used those or if their were simply an addition to the overall interior design.

His observations were cut short when Kuroo pulled his gun and undid the safety and the younger man was quick to follow that example, before their feet carried them through the door towards a staircase.

Kuroo made a swift gesture with his hand, signaling that Akaashi should go first, the other acknowledged that with a firm nod and quiet steps that lead him up.

He quickly recalled the blueprints they went through a few hours ago. Staircase up, on the left side was a wall, in front a window, on the right side first Toorus old room, next to it his sisters, a bathroom, down the hallway opposite from the bathroom was an office, Akaashi took note to extract the files from there later on, next to it the master bedroom.

The hallway was completely silent and something about it unsettled the small man. 

He expected snores, heavy breathing or even the quiet rustling of sheets but there was absolutely nothing. He held his breath and stepped forward.

Downstairs Kuroo took that as a signal to move up too, his steps weren't as light as Akaashis but they were still silent enough to not raise any suspicions.

First step, Akaashis gun was held tightly in front of him, his hands didn't shake but there was ice cold concentration seeping in every part of his body, his heard thudded softly in his chest and his eyes were fixated on the door down the hallways.

Second step, there were picture frames on both sides, a teenage girl with a young boy, both smiling brightly into the camera, a man in a suit and a woman in a white dress, flowers around them. Tooru graduating high school, Akaashi knew that Iwaizumi stood next to him back then but the picture was cropped in a way that was too obvious to be random.

Third step, the bedroom door was a crack open and Akaashi furrowed his eyebrows, shouldn't there be sounds from the inside? Something felt horribly off but they already came way too close to back off now, his hand reached for the doorknob, Kuroo pressed his back against the wall next to him and smiled at him reassuringly.

Couldn't he feel it too? That tension that suddenly cut through the stale air of the house and Akaashi felt like he was following a script that he hadn't read before and when the door swung open he was surprised, was this his doing? He ran on autopilot.

He barely suppressed the relieved sigh that threatened to spill from his lips when he spotted the lump on the sheets, he raised his hands, his finger on the trigger and then he pulled it-

Once, a quiet ping escaped the barrel, feathers exploded on the bed.

Twice, blood spilled over clean sheets, but not nearly as much as expected, Akaashi was confused.

Three times, now it became more.

He edged closer and with his cloved hands he pulled back the bed sheets and prepared for sight that he was already used to at this stage but the second the body was revealed a biting stench hit his nose and he stumbled back in surprise, his bum hitting the floor with a loud thud and pain spread trough his thighs and legs.

"Akaashi?", Kuroo hissed from the outside and hurried into the bedroom only to stop in motion when he spotted the corpse that probably had been there for at least a few days, slowly rotting flesh and sunken in eyes greeted them both.

"What the hell", he whispered and quickly strutted towards his boyfriend to help him up, eyes not leaving the body.

"Seems like somebody had the same idea we had", Akaashi finally said and brushed dust from his jeans, the shock slowly settling down and leaving him with only mil curiosity. "This is so fucked."

A small happy gasp filled his ears, then an angry shush.

"Let's just", Akaashis voice came out way too quietly for his liking and he cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his composure. "Let's just get the files and get out, alright?" Kuroo nodded but his face seemed unsure, this never happened before.

The office was trashed, the desk was thrown over and the computer smashed, papers and pencils and other office utensils were strewn all over the floor, pictures were thrown of the walls and books were ripped from their respected shelves. Akaashi felt sick.

"Well then", he breathed out and moved towards the bookshelf in a sure motion. "Good thing we know a few things they don't, am I right?" And with carefully fingers he reached behind the wooden shelf and pulled it towards himself to reveal a small safe sunk into the wall.

Kuroo gasped. "That's so cool", he muttered and Bokuto was already perking up on the other end. "What's so cool?", only to be shushed by a very annoyed sounding Tsukishima.

The code of the safe was easy, Toorus birthday, and swung open without a sound to reveal a small stack of files. Akaashi had already reached for it and pulled it against his own chest, when a picture got loose and fell to the floor.

The small man sighed annoyed and bend over to pick it up, when he froze.

His own smiling face looked up to him from the paper.

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Four

Akaashis hands were shaking, his eyes going wide as sudden, cold realization washed over him.

When he was fifteen a girl confessed to him for the first time. She was pretty, nice and smart and he liked her a lot back then but he never imagine her feeling something stronger for him. When she finally said it, the words spilling from her mouth while her shaking fingers held out a letter in a white envelope, he was shocked. It wasn't that panicked state that everyone described though, he had felt calm, his heart beating slow, steady and every thud hurt in his chest, his smile was frozen on his face, slowly slipping into a grimace.

That's exactly how he felt this moment too, his mind slowed down as his thoughts ran wild.

"Kuroo", he whispered, the files slipping from his fingers, more pictures spilled over the floor. It was them, Akaashi, Tsukishima, Kuroo, Bokuto and even Kenma, but also Yahaba, Lev, Kyoutani, Yaku, Iwaizumi, Oikawa and a few people he didn't recognize.

Notes were scribbled on the back, like _'Owls'_  and _'Aoba Johsai'_.

Akaashi felt sick.

A shaky exhale next to him reminded him of his boyfriend that saw all of this, just like he did. The older man reached up to his ear and pushed softly. "Bokuto, text Oikawa ask him if he knows about some kind of hard drive or something, where his dad could've also saved his investigations on", Akaashi was so so thankful that his boyfriend seemed to be able to remain calm when he himself slowly started to crumble. 

His insides first, he felt sick to the core, his stomach seemed to be made out of jelly and he unconsciously reached for it.

"Tetsu, Oikawa already texted us", Bokuto then said from the other side. His voice was unusually tense and strained, the both man inside eyed each other worried. "What did he say?" "They got shot at."

Kuroo cursed, Akaashi paled and somewhere in the distance they could hear Tsukishima laugh his signature laugh that basically meant that everything was fucked and just horrible in general and was very much equivalent to a _'I told you so'_.

Kuroo tugged on Akaashis sleeve, slowly forcing him out of the room, but turned around to gather the dropped files from the floor and quietly closed the safe again. He felt uneasy and a familiar tug of dread started spreading in his gut. With one last glance backwards he exited the trashed office and started moving towards and down the stairs, his younger boyfriend following him closely, there was tense silence on the other side of the headset.

Akaashi broke the second they slipped back into the car, his gun fell from his fingers and made a dangerous clicking sound when it hit the ground, Kuroo winced, fully aware that the safety was still turned off.

"How? When did he even-", he interrupted himself, frantic eyes glancing up, his hands shaking where they clawed into his own thigh.  

"What happened?", Tsukishima asked urgent, his eyes were shining with worry just when he started the car and started taking of back towards Tokyo. "He collected information", Kuroo answered, voice sober. "About Aoba Johsai, but, well, we kinda already knew that, so-", he trailed off, eyes wandering towards where Akaashi still seemed to be trying to compromise their discovery. "Actually-" Kuroo cleared his throat. "Actually the old man was already dead when we got in." Bokuto turned his head, confusion in his face, Tsukishimas shoulder tensed.

"And his office was completely trashed, like seriously, someone definitely didn't have any kind of patience, oh boy. But that's actually not even the worse, ya know." Another awkward chuckle. "He kind of also figured out who we are, found our connections to Toorus gang, and our assassinations."

The car swerved left violently, when Tsukki flinched, Akaashis head bounced against the window and a pained groan emitted from the young man, Bokuto was frozen in shock.

"No way", Tsukishima then said, Akaashi thought that he even heard anger somewhere in that short sentence. "So, you're telling me that some killing bastard doesn't only know who we are but also what we've done and who we work with?" Yep, definitely anger.

"So that's why Trashkawa got shot at, no fucking wonder", he laughed bitterly, his voice dripping with sarcasm and blind, cold rage. 

Akaashis head shot up. "How are they?", he asked, his voice was shaking, why the hell didn't he ask earlier, how selfish was he that he completely forgot that there were people _hurt_ right now that definitely needed more of his attention than senseless panicking. "They are safe right now, Oikawa sent an address and told us to come there but he didn't mention anything else." Bokuto gulped audible. "Do you think the incidents are related."

"Yes", Tsukishima didn't miss a beat. "Of course they are. Kuroo text Kenma and tell him to go somewhere safe without telling anyone, who knows who those fuckers target next. We'll get clothes and so on from our flat tomorrow and then we're going to stay low for a while, on that pretentious assholes expanse obviously, was his dad after all."

"Tsukki is so cruel", Kuroo whispered in awe. "It's kinda hot." Akaashi hit him.

 

 

Turns out that the address Oikawa had sent them belonged to an apartment in the good parts of down-town Tokyo, labeled with the name 'Iwaizumi'.

The flat was located on the very top and a very distressed Yaku opened the door when they rung the bell.

"Are you all okay?", he asked breathlessly while he ushered them all inside and locked the door behind him. "Did anything happen? Oh god, Keji you're so pale, do you feel alright?"

"We're okay, thank you", Akaashi answered and gave a small smile in the direction of the worried male while he slipped out of his shoes and took a tentative step inside the apartment. "What about you? I heard you were shot at but Oikawa didn't include any further details."

Yakus face fell. "Yahaba got shot", he then said, voice strained while he slowly started walking down the hallway, obviously expecting that the others would just follow him. "We were on our way to the car anyways, so we got away pretty quickly and nothing too serious happened, but he's in a lot of pain and Kyoutani makes the whole thing just worse."

The group then entered a spacious living room, expensive looking furniture was skillfully arranged and the decor perfectly complimented the bright and open room, Akaashi would've probably adored it if he wasn't this distracted by the whimpering man on one of the sofas.

There were towels around him to prevent blood from dripping onto the cushions and floor and a tall man was hovering over him, careful fingers prodding and tugging at the wound on his shoulder. Kyoutani sat on the floor, eyes wild and angry and they looked so so scared.

A small cry emitted from Yahaba when Lev tried to move a bit dead skin out of the way and the blonde man immediately raised to his feet, face distorted in anger. "Oi, be careful", he hissed but his boyfriend was already glaring at him and forcefully signing to him to cut it out.

Oikawa, who was sat on the side, calculating eyes taking every little movement in, was the first to notice them. He perked up and quickly stood up, his usually playful demeanor was completely dropped to give his serious face space.

"Are you okay?", he asked, checking on them with his eyes. They nodded. "What about?", Tooru swallowed and forced his voice to stop wavering. "What about the- .. the mission, did it go well?"

Akaashi looked to the side, where Yahaba hissed again when Lev held up something that suspiciously looked like a knife. "Don't worry, he actually studied medicine", Yaku reassured him quickly. The younger man nodded slowly and adverted his eyes. "About the mission", he started carefully and hesitated. "Maybe we should talk somewhere else about this."

A hand reached out and clamped around Akaashis wrist, he couldn't help but feel thankful for it.

"Yeah of course", Tooru answered and lead them towards a room that turned out to be a kitchen, the room was surprisingly big and Akaashi couldn't help but stare.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be simple college students?", Tsukishima then said. Oikawa laughed. "Well, yeah, but Iwa-chans aunt owns this flat and she's supposed to be a lawyer." "Supposed to be?" "She works for the Yakuza, funny story actually but that's how we got into the business, but that's not what we wanted to talk about, right?", his smile was strained, brown eyes searching.

Kuroo looked up and then sighed. "Tooru, your dad was already dead when we found him", he waited a second, expecting a reaction of some sort but was surprised when that statement was accepted with a simple blink. "Also his office was raided, we think that they might have taken a hard drive of some sort on which he documented his investigations, we also found some files-" He quickly looked through the papers in his hands and pulled out a few pictures before setting them onto the counter. "-that suggest that he doesn't only know your identities but ours as well, and now those vigilantes are after all of us and we don't appreciate it."

Oikawa blinked owlish as he processed the information.

"Then we just kill them, right?", he asked and his wide, innocent eyes contrasted greatly with his words.

Tsukishima laughed. "Of course we do, but do you know who they are? Cause we don't, we have absolutely no idea or hints or anything while they know everything", he spat bitterly, his hand around Akaashis wrist tightened. "I am not risking our life so you can have peace, so you better start planning, pretty boy."

Huh, pretty boy wasn't as bad as Trashkawa so Akaashi just let it slip. 

Oikawa opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he opened it again and this time there were actual words spilling from his lips. "Yeah, of course." 

"Anyways, what happened, weren't you at the mall or something?", Bokuto butted in and let himself fall onto one of the chairs in the room. "Yeah, we were at the Arcade and it all went well but then when we left someone started shooting, I have no idea where they were, we only heard shots", he stopped for a second, apparently thinking about what happened. "I only remember Yahaba going down to be honest, the rest is just some kind of blur."

"Yeah about that, is he alright? Shouldn't we try to get an actual doctor?", Akaashi asked worriedly, it wasn't that he didn't trust Lev or-, actually it was exactly like that, he didn't trust Lev, at least not with a knife.

A clicking sound made their heads jerk around, Iwaizumi stood in the doorway, towel hung around his neck and hair still dripping. 

"We aren't sure if the police knows about us and we have no idea who's involved with the person that shot us so we didn't want to risk it", he said and moved inside, closing the door behind him. "The bullet went right through him and didn't hit any bones or organs so it should be fine with just getting stitched up, and even Lev can do a pretty decent job with that."

Akaashi nodded hesitantly. "Alright", a short pause. "What about Kyoutani, is he alright?" Oikawa laughed lightly but his smile was grim. "Mad Dog-chan was completely berserk when he saw Ya-chan get hurt, it was actually kind of scary, but he changed a lot since you last met him, high school right, so I am not concerned."

The younger man crossed and uncrossed his arms as he thought about what to say next. "So what now?", he asked. "We can't return to our apartment and neither can you, is this place safe?"

Iwaizumi shrugged lightly but his eyes were hard and calculating, Akaashi knew that he was currently considering every aspect of their location. "It should be", he finally said. "There's two bedrooms and the living room, it's not ideal but it should work for the time being." A short pause. "I suggest that we rest for now, but with at least one person staying up to make sure we don't get any unwanted visitors and tomorrow we'll start analyzing all the data we have and then proceed from there, is that okay with everyone?"

Nobody raised their voice and that seemed to be enough of an agreement.

"We take one room though, not sharing with anyone else, just us", Tsukishima cut in. This time Oikawa stepped forward and nodded with his usual cheery smile, but somehow it seemed strained. "Of course Tsukki-chan, we wouldn't want to disturb your love nest." The blonde clicked his tongue in annoyance but didn't say anything else.

There was silence for a second before Bokuto yawned. "Well, I'm beat", he said and laughed heartily, Akaashi couldn't help but smile. No matter what happened he could always expect the tall man to not give a fuck and forget all the depressing things in life.

"You should go sleep", Akaashi said softly and looked at all of his boyfriends, they nodded reluctantly. "And so should you", he then proceeded and shot Iwaizumi and Oikawa a strict glare, that demanded to be obeyed.

"What about you, babe", Kuroo asked and lazily trudged over to him to wrap his arms around his boyfriends middle. "You should sleep too, tomorrows gonna be a busy day." "I know but I need a bit time to calm down, I'm just gonna catch up with Yaku a bit, it's been ages since we've last seen each other."

Tsukishima looked at him from the side, his eyes curious and nearly spilling over with unasked questions but Keji smiled and the unspoken words of _'Later'_ seemed to satisfy him for the time being.

Slowly the six man walked out of the kitchen and then five of them proceeded to the doors that led to their respected bedrooms, Akaashi headed to the living room, where Yahaba sat on the couch, now all bandaged up and his devoted boyfriend at his side. 

"Hi", the black haired male sat and let himself fall into the love seat on the side. "Where are Yaku and Lev?" 

Kyoutani glanced over to his boyfriend before answering. "Yaku was waiting for you to get out of the kitchen and Lev went to sleep", he said gruffly, eyes mustering the other man.

Yahaba apparently noticed his distrust and smacked him with his good arm. "Don't be like that", he scolded the blonde. "We're all on the same side."

Akaashi waited a moment, expecting a response of some sort but then started talking instead when none came. "We decided to put up night guards", he told them and pulled his legs against his chest, so that he could wrap his arms around his shins. "Would one of you mind taking the first night, if you don't want to I can do it too, it's really no problem."

The moment he finished Yaku entered the room, carrying a tray with some filled cups on it, probably tea judging from the comforting smell of herbs and steam.

He sat down on the floor on one side of the small coffee table, facing the other three man, and set the beverages onto the surface. His warm eyes filled with concern when they crossed Yahabas bandages shoulder but quickly traveled over to Akaashi.

"I'll take it", Kyoutani mumbled. "But Yahaba needs rest. And a room. He's hurt so he shouldn't sleep on the couch."

Yaku perked up at that. "I'm sure he can stay with Lev, Oikawa and Iwaizumi, I'd stay with you if that's alright." The blonde didn't seem to keen of that idea but apparently the side of him which cared about Yahaba was stronger than his own, personal issues. "Alright. Thanks, I guess."

"I'm still here you know?", Yahaba grumbled and reached for one of the cups but flinched back wincing when he realized his mistake. Kyoutani was at his side ins seconds notice. "What are you doing, idiot?" "I just did it out of habit", the brown haired male spat back and cradled his arm to his chest.

Akaashi was a bit taken aback by their seemingly rough encounter but Yaku chuckled softly next to him. "This is how they express their love."

Apparently that was true, because when the younger man looked up again he could see the blonde holding his boyfriend close to his chest, who was carefully sipping on his tea. Thankfully he held the cup in the right hand this time.

"You should rest", Yaku sighed after a few minutes of silence and Yahaba startled, tired eyes shot up to find his senpai looking at him. "You had a long day and I know that you just returned from a mission, plus that wound needs to heal a bit over night before you strain it to much." The small mans elaboration seemed to do the trick, as the young man slowly stood up.

"I guess you're right." He hesitated and then a small smile slipped onto his features, giving him that pretty-boy look that Oikawa and Akaashi had already fully mastered. "Thank you."

And with a last good night kiss from his boyfriend he exited the living room and joined the other three, already sleeping man.

 Akaashi kept a close look on Kyoutani as Yahaba left the room and made the pleasant observation that he seemed to follow the taller man with his eyes, a slight, worried frown etched into his forehead. 

"Are you okay?", he asked softly but the blonde still seemed to be shocked by the sudden question and jerked his head around to glare at him. "Of course I am", he scoffed and proceeded to take out his phone and tapping on it. The black haired male would probably be at least a little annoyed at the gesture if it hadn't reminded him of something. 

With a quiet _'Excuse me'_ directed towards Yaku, who was now sipping on his own cup of tea, he stood up and walked quickly towards the entry where he had left his jacket and pulled out his own phone, his fingers hovered over a familiar name before pressing it. His back hit the wall behind him and he slowly slid down on it until he hit the floor, the soft sounds that the dialing procedure made accompanied him. He closed his eyes, hoped, prayed and expected. 

Kuroo had texted him, right? So he would be alright, right?

"Keji?", a monotone voice answered and Akaashi exhaled heavily through his nose. "Are you alright?" Now the black haired man laughed.

"I should be the one asking. Are _you_ okay? Where are you?" For a moment there was only a soft humming before the blue haired male answered, almost too quietly for the phone to pick up. "I'm at Shouyos." "Hinatas? The kid from the other day?" "Yeah, he's not really a kid though. He's only a year younger than us, you know?" Wait, there was no way in hell Chibi-chan was that old, right? 

Akaashi stayed silent for a second, picking at a loose thread on his T-Shirt, before he said words he never thought would ever leave his mouth. "Stay away from us, okay?", his heart skipped a beat, painfully, and then continued aching as the voice on the other end didn't answer. "I know." A cough, it sounded choked. "I mean, I won't, you know, come near you." There was rustlibng on the other side, suggesting that Kenma had stood up and started moving. He usually did that when he was on the phone, Akaashi didn't know why but the familiarity of it comforted him somehow. "Stay safe, okay?" Warmth gathered in his eyes, flooded his thoughts in a way that he hated, that he had felt way more often than he'd like to admit. This helplessness was eating away at him.

"I'm scared", he admitted, voice breathy and he hated how vulnerable he sounded. He was supposed to stay strong, it was what he did last time too, it was what he did all his life, so why was it so hard right now? 

"I know", was the response. There was something rustling, wind, Kenma had probably stepped onto a balcony or outside or something. "You're going to be okay." Akaashi wanted to Believe him but this time it felt like a lie. "I have a horrible feeling about all of this, somethings wrong and I have no idea what and I'm not sure how to control this, Kenma." It was true and it felt good getting those suspicions out of his head and into the open. He carefully glanced down the hallway where light seeped into the hallway through the crack between steep and door, hopefully nobody heard him.

"Go to bed, Keji, you're confused and shaken up", the blue haired mans voice sounded distant but not in a dismissive way, more like he was thinking about something. "Just look at it tomorrow again and you'll find details you didn't see before, I'm sure we'll figure this all out, everything will turn out just fine, just like always, okay?" 

_This isn't like always._

"Okay."

_This feels like a deja-vu I'm not ready for._

"Good night, Keji."

_Please just stay safe._

"Good night, Kenma, don't play for much longer."

He ended the call and the shook his head softly to get rid of all the thoughts that seemed to scream at him, he laughed quietly and for a second he felt his sanity slip as he sat there in the darkness and prayed and hoped for something inevitable to happen.

"Get a grip", he whispered to himself. "You are not fifteen anymore."

 


	5. Five

Kenmas fingers brushed the handle of the cup and his tired eyes watched the coffee and the milk mix in wild swirls.

Something was off, well actually everything _was_ off. People wanted to murder his friends, and him too, which was nothing new but this time it actually seemed like they would succeed which was starting to become terrifying.

The small man shifted slightly on the chair he sat on and sighed deeply before setting his cup down onto the surface of the kitchen table and unlocked his phone to check for new messages. Nothing. He hadn't got a single notification from his flatmates since Akaashi called and logically speaking Kenma was aware that it was nighttime and they were probably just asleep but he couldn't stop worrying about them.

This felt like a goddamn deja-vú, like a memory that he had tried to suppress for a very long time that out of nowhere decided to resurface and he wasn't sure if he could handle the pain he had endured back then once more.

Back when they first got into the business they got some seriously sketchy missions and Kenma had never really felt comfortable with doing those but they just weren't in a place to be picky. They were young, way too young, indebted and absolutely horrified by what they've done and what they had to continue doing.

Their first setup was having Bokuto and Kuroo doing the actual kills while Tsukishima and him handled the technical aspects while trying to keep Akaashi as shielded and protected as possible but that quickly turned out to be a fatal mistake when the white and black haired boy threw up all over the scene and they had to clean it up and put acid over the spot so nobody could trace it back to them. It was messy and ruined their entire mission, also Keji was absolutely livid that they went without him and soon after that incident their new formation was born.

But one day a boy, maybe a year older than him and Akaashi, came up to them and asked them if they were free for a mission. The loan he had offered was ridiculous high, they needed the money really badly so they accepted without thinking too much about it and didn't even bother to research the backgrounds, which turned out to be a mistake.

Oikawa Tooru was a new face in the business, but Iwaizumi Makoto was already big and with her help he and his boyfriend succeeded in record time but obviously a lot of people were against them. _Too young,_ they said.  _Just kids trying to play grownups._

And to some degree that even might have been true so it wasn't really a surprise to anyone that the Ushijima family, head of the Shiratorizawa Gang had started taking interest in them. 

Ushijima Gou hated them, hated how they interfered with his business and stole their clients, hated how the arrogance radiated from the couple and how they seemed to be able to get this far with so few people, so he decided to do the only thing that seemed right in his perspective.

Looking back it probably wasn't his best idea to send his pansexual, overly awkward teenage son to kill the one and only, beautiful and charming Oikawa Tooru.

Except Oikawa hated him and instead of putting on his playful smile and blinking with those big, innocent eyes that had girls and boys blushing all the same he decided to show his ugliest face, the one full of envy, the one that made him strong enough to survive in a world of hungry wolves dressed in sheep fur, and it intrigued the older male. He didn't desire petite boys with quiet laughs and a polite demeanor, he wanted boys that bit and didn't let go, he wanted pure emotions the stronger the better and something about the rage that turned Oikawas soft, brown eyes into brooding swamps of lava and the annoyance that creased his flawless skin with deep furrows lightened up a spark in Ushijima that he wasn't even aware of possessing.

The plan was easy, seduce Oikawa, take over Aoba Johsai and making in part of Shiratorizawa and everyone would be happy, even his father, and maybe that would have worked if it wasn't for Ushijimas social skills that could be compared to a bottle of water and Toorus very passionate and very jealous boyfriend Iwaizumi Hajime.

Ushijima Gou wasn't happy with that plan but he didn't really care as long as there were no causalities and Aoba Johsai would be stopped, so his son came to the simple plan to just kill Iwaizumi and take Oikawa, it wasn't that hard, but the latter actually saw right through it and quickly soughed for help. That he stumbled across an organized group of hitmen that attended the same school as one of his men was pure coincidence and so he quickly contacted them.

"Funny story actually", he had said as he entered the small bedroom, curious eyes taking in the posters on the wall and the decorative figurines neatly placed into small shelves above a small desk. "But I need someone dead."

Akaashi had scoffed and rolled his eyes while Kuroo smirked and Bokuto straight out started laughing, Kenma just stayed indifferent, he didn't have a good feeling with this.

"You don't say", the oldest out of them then said. "We need a name and a prize, pretty boy."

Oikawa sat down on the floor, opposite of Akaashi who seized him up with his eyes, hands sprawled across his thighs and back in a straight line.

"His name is Ushijima Wakatoshi and the prize", a sly grin danced across the plumb lips of the teenager, he seemed playful but Kenma knew not to underestimate him, there was something about his aura, about how he seemed to know them with just a single glance, how he constantly smiled and constructed an idea of who they were at the same time. It unsettled the blonde.

This observation distracted the small boy but when he turned his attention back to the his comrades they all had matching sets of wide eyes and gaping mouths. "Dude", Bokuto said, drawing the middle vowel out.

Akaashi sobered up first, his half lidded eyes narrowed even more than usual and he seemed skeptical but the way his fingers dug into his thighs have away how tempting the offer really was for him. "What's the catch?", his voice was neutral like always but there was a cold edge to it, like he expected something horrible and treated his opponent with the exact distrust he felt.

Oikawa shrugged carelessly and his constant smile started to become more mocking than anything else. "You could die", he said cheerily. "But I suppose that's nothing new in your line of work." 

Kuroo slightly scowled at that but the other boy didn't seem to notice, or care for that matter. The boyfriends glanced at each other, well aware that Oikawas money could free them of their debt once and for all and they no longer would be forced to do the things they were doing now. No more spilled blood, no matter sleepless nights in constant anticipation of red and blue lights shining through their windows and no more corpses added to their steadily growing list of regrets that they could never erase.

It was so tempting but every coin had two sides and Kenma wasn't sure if he wanted to see someone lose their head just because they couldn't resist the number.

"Can we think about it?", Akaashi finally asked, hesitance making his voice lighter than usual. Oikawa smiled sweetly and bowed forward slightly. "No."

Bokutos head jerked up so fast that Kenma could hear his neck crack, Kuroo flinched slightly where he sat next to his boyfriend on the bed. "No? Wait, aren't you supposed to give us time and a number to call or something?", he exclaimed loudly, Akaashi sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that this isn't a movie, Bokuto-san?"

Oikawas smile didn't waver in the slightest, he just kept sitting where he sat, keeping himself composed and polite. "I don't have any time, either you accept the offer or I'm gonna look for someone else. There are actually a surprising amount of assassinates in Tokyo, imagine how baffled I was", he laughed softly but it didn't make the situation less tense than it was.

Akaashi looked up to Kenma, who shrugged lightly, then Kuroo who just kept staring at his feet and refused to acknowledge his boyfriends glance, then Tsukishima who seemed conflicted, Bokuto was, like always, way too oblivious to notice the meaning the stare held and just smiled excitedly.

"We accept", Akaashi then said, to strangers his voice probably sounded determined but his friends could hear the uncertainty that made his hands shake and his tone dip higher than usually.

Kenma had a horrible feeling, it stuck in his gut during their preparations and made him feel nauseous when they parked the car.

He had never seen that much blood in his life.

The rest of the night had passed in a blur, Bokuto was crying, Tsukishima was screaming and Kuroo was desperate.

Akaashi had been shot, they hadn't been aware of the amount of security that Ushijima Wakatoshis house surrounded and protected seeing as they weren't aware that he was indeed connected to one of the biggest Yakuza Groups in the whole of Japan.

"Keji, please wake up", Tsukishima sobbed, cradling the lithe body into his arms and carefully pressing down onto the wound in his boyfriends chest. He was barely breathing and his skin became so pale that Kenma was afraid he would just turn transparent and disappear.

"We need an ambulance", Kuroo said, his hands already pulling out his phone. "We need to get him to a hospital as soon as possible, you hear me?" "They would lock us away, Kuro", Kenma said, his nails dug into the steering wheel, he wasn't sure where exactly he was heading but he needed to gain distance, to get as far as possible away from the place that tried to take one of his best friends away.

Bokuto didn't say anything, he stared ahead, golden eyes empty and distant.

"My brother", Tsukishima breathed out but the sound was already followed by a heart wrenching sob that sounded like the youngest out of them couldn't breathe, which was probably true. "He's studying medicine."

"Give me the address", Kenma said hoarsely, he couldn't afford breaking down now, because driving while crying would sure as hell attract attention and seeing as he didn't own a driver licence, and he wouldn't for another year, so he took a deep breath and tried to blend out the sobbing and whimpering from the backseat, tried to blend out pale skin decorated with splatters of blood that shone in the darkness like rubys.

The drive led them straight to a small apartment complex in the outskirts of Tokyo, nearly all the lights were turned off so without hesitating another second the hauled Akaashi into Kuroos arms and darted towards one of the doors.

Tsukishimas brother, Akiteru, apparently had been awake when they rang the doorbell and in a confused voice he answered. "It's me, Kei", Tsukishima said urgently. "We need your help, please."

For a second it seemed like the man wouldn't let them in but then the low buzz of the door opening proved the opposite.

Grey walls and narrow stairs that led upwards with no elevator in sight welcomed them but they didn't dare to waste more time by staring and taking in their surroundings and started climbing upwards, led by the blonde.

"Kei, what-", the words died in Akiterus throat as he took in the sight in front of him.

Five teenagers, two of them bloodied, one of them heavily injured and the other two in different stages of shock.

"I'll explain everything to you later but please just help Akaashi, I think he's dying", it wasn't like Tsukishima to beg, not in the least, and it was probably that obscurity that snapped the man out of his trace.

"Take him to the living room", he answered and moved out of the way into the apartment, probably to get a first aid kit of some sort.

They hurried inside and quickly marched into the living room that was connected to a small kitchen and definitely wasn't meant to occupy this many people. 

Kuroo stood next to the couch, still clutching his unconscious, bleeding boyfriend in his arms, not quite ready to let go of him yet. Also, he felt ashamed to even think that, he didn't want to stain this mans cushion seeing as he was Tsukishimas brother and a complete stranger to him.

Speaking of the devil, Akiteru rushed inside the room and knelt down next to the sofa. "Lie him down", he demanded and the black haired boy obliged quickly. "What happened? Where is he bleeding and how long was he unconscious."

"He got shot", answered Kenma quietly. "In the chest", Tsukishima elaborated and muffled a sob into his sleeve. "Twice. He was out of it for at least twenty minutes now."

Akiteru cursed under his breath and made quick work of cutting the shirt of the Akaashis chest, revealing a deep, blood gushing wound. 

"In what did you get involved?", he scowled and it probably was supposed to sound angry but all Kenma could hear was panic and worry. "Kei, lift him, carefully though, I have to see if the bullets are stuck or not." Tsukishima tried to do as told but his hands were shaking so badly that Bokuto had to take over, eyes firmly shut.

The man sighed in relieve. "They exited but all I can do is sew the wound shut, he really needs to go to the hospital. Who knows hoe bad his internal bleeding is, what if it hit his lungs or heart?" 

"We can't", Kuroo growled. "They would kill him if they found out, they would kill us, kill you." 

Akiteru looked annoyed and desperate but the fact that blood stuck to his hair when he tried to push it back seemed to bring him back to the most important thing at the second.

"I need a towel", he said monotone and his brother was off before he could finish the sentence. "What the hell did you do?", he asked then. "You are kids for fucks sake."

Kei reentered and threw the towel to Akiteru who caught it with quick hands and started removing the blood from Akaashis pale skin. A small mewl of pain left the boys lips and Bokuto darted forward but Kuroo held him back before he could do anything stupid.

The older Tsukishima made quick work of the rest of the wound and only demanded help again when he had to turn the boy around to do the same with his back.

They decided to move Akaashi to Akiterus bedroom and let him rest there instead of the old, ratty sofa and then proceeded to gather at the small kitchen table, each one with a cup in their hand.

"So", the man started but Kuroo didn't let him finish. "If anyone finds out that you know about this, about us, they might kill you." Tsukishima glared at his boyfriend with his blood shot eyes but didn't say anything and instead continued staring into his tea. His face was swollen now that he had stopped crying but his fingers still shook and twitched at random instances, signaling just how effected he was by the incident.

"I don't care, you owe me an explanation." "Akiteru-" "No, Kei, there's a dying teenager in my bedroom, a dying teenager who has been _shot_ with _a gun_ and for some reason my very own baby brother was involved, you either tell me or I am calling the police." They all knew that he wouldn't make his threats come true but Kenma had to admit that they owed him.

"We kill people", Bokuto then said, his completely numb demeanor hadn't left yet and it started to unsettle the other three boys. "For a living." He hesitated. "And we fucked up."

"Yeah right, listen he-" "He's no lying", Tsukishima intervened and squeezed his eyes shut. 

"We fucked up and killed someone and someone else offered us to stay quiet in exchange for money", he said, way too quickly but Akiteru didn't seem to care as he sat frozen in his place. "So we started doing-" He gestured wildly with his right hand, the other still clasped around his mug. "- _this_ and somehow we started getting involved with gangs and other big people and we can't stop until we pay our debt."

Kuroo nodded in agreement. "But we fucked with the wrong people and now we're here." "With who exactly did you-?", Akiteru let his question hang in the room.

"Shiratorizawa", answered Kenma quietly and fiddle with the hem of his shirt. He had left his phone in the car and grew more uncomfortable with every passing second.

Akiteru cursed. "Even I know them. Kei, why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you call the police right away? I mean you are kids, it was an accident, right?" Silence. " _Right?_ " 

"No, it wasn't", Bokuto admitted and now a lone tear rolled over his cheek as well. He violently rubbed it away, leaving an angry red mark.

Tsukishima took a deep breath before looking up with that same determination that he wore when he started his relationship with the other three boys, when he reassured them that they could make it work.

"We killed Akaashis mother."

 

 

 

 

Kenma sighed and leaned back in his chair, his eyes flickered upwards, glancing over the framed pictured that Hinata kept in his apartment.

Some of them were with a tall, black haired boy with seemed to glare in every single one, others were of a girl that looked a lot like the red head himself. All of them were kept in neat, colorful frames that fitted perfectly into the small, patchwork room that was filled with hand painted pots with small plants in them and little figurines of animals, mostly crows.

His coffee had long gone cold and the darkness outside started fading so that the sun could sink the grey morning into hues of orange and pink.

It's been a long night and Kenma was well aware that it was only the first of many more and he wasn't quite sure if he could take it.

He felt restless, sleepless, and the worry in his gut made him feel sick to the core. 

Nothing went like it was supposed to but this time they hadn't done anything wrong, at least Kenma was sure that they didn't, all of their plans were made over hours and hours of research and they had never repeated the same mistake of accepting a job without knowing the background again, so how could these random vigilantes find out this much about them? Why didn't Detective Oikawa share his investigations with his department and take them down?

Nothing added up, it didn't make any sense!

Except they were missing something, but Kenma had no idea what.

And with that thought he stood up and stretched his tired bones, his joints were aching from being held in that uncomfortable pose for hours and he slowly poured his coffee in the drain before placing the cup in the dishwasher and making himself on the way to the living room, where he dropped down onto the extended couch and pulled the blanket up to his chin.

He didn't want to sleep, well aware of the nightmares that would haunt him if his overly worried consciousness would let him fall into slumber in the first place.

He closed his eyes anyways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Six

When Akaashi woke up he felt like he was burning.

There was a body draped over his, additional to a thick blanket, and another one curled into his side. Confused and sleepy he tried shuffling backwards to sit against the headboard but a strong arm held him in place. 

It was kinda weird for him to be first to wake up, or second, he guessed, seeing as Kuroo had already left the room, and he wasn't used to his boyfriends still sleeping on him then.

Akaashi sighed softly and accepted his fate, he settled carefully back into the mattress and lifted one hand to card through Bokutos black and white hair. It needed to get cut soon, he noticed, they could also bleach and tone it again seeing as the black started overpowering the silver streaks.

A small whine sounded next to him and somehow Tsukishima managed to curl himself even more into the smallest mans side, his glasses were placed on the nightstand and Akaashi took this opportunity to appreciate the younger ones face. He truly looked eternal like this, youthful and soft but also strong and determined and the best thing was, was that that pretty much summed up Tsukkis personality.

Akaashi always saw himself in the blonde, they were both stubborn, both didn't easily butch from their positions in an argument and both would die for their boyfriends.

It made their relationship easier and harder at the same time, easier because the often knew what the other was thinking but also harder because they often butted heads, just how they did at the beginning of this mission.

Another sigh ripped itself from Akaashis throat and he wondered if it was because he was still tired.

Oikawa didn't know this this time, it wasn't his fault but Tsukishima liked to blame him for every little thing, even though it was Tooru that got him proper medical care back then and it was him who made sure that all their debts were covered and it was him who offered them a safe life far, far away where nobody knew them and gangs were equivalent to mystic creatures.

They didn't take it.

They stayed and kept killing, they staid and somehow managed to make it work and move on.

Sometimes Akaashi regretted it, sometimes he looked back and wished another opportunity like that would come and all of them would finally be safe.

Maybe they could get married then, obviously not legally but more in a personal way. They could assemble their friends and get someone to wed them while they spoke their vows and put rings on each others fingers, they could dance the whole night through and Bokuto would probably cry and so would Akaashi.

He never talked about it with his boyfriends, but Akaashi always kept those wedding magazines and watched those soups Tsukishima despised and somewhere deep inside him he wished he too could do that.

Maybe they could move to the countryside, with all their savings it should be affordable, they could rent a little house with a big yard, get dogs or cats or maybe even kids. Was it really so wrong to wish for a family?

Beside him Tsukishima stirred and Akaashi coed softly at the way the blonde scrunched his nose up and slowly opened his eyes. "Hey, Keji", he croaked out huskily and rubbed the sleep from his face with his left fist.

"Morning", Akaashi whispered softly, Bokuto snored loudly above him. "Did you sleep well?" Tsukishima nodded softly and carefully propped himself onto his elbow to press his lips to his boyfriends. Akaashi quickly turned away. "Ew, morning breath", he said but his giggles betrayed him. "Oh shut up", Tsukishima laughed and let himself fall onto the older boys shoulder, successfully burrowing him even more in bodies.

"You smell good", the blonde observed, voice slightly muffled. "I'm so glad to have you."

Akaashi could hear the honesty in the statement and affectionately pressed his own nose into the younger boys head. "Ew, mushy feelings", he answered fondly and let his eyes fall shut, enjoying the close proximity of two of the people he loved so so much, even though they kinda were suffocating him.

"Where's Kuroo?", Tsukishima yawned and turned his head slightly so he could look up to his smaller boyfriend, he was cute when he was tired, because his usual snark disappeared from his voice, leaving only soft words. 

"I don't know, probably raiding the kitchen or something", Akaashi answered equally quiet and lifted his hand to bury it into the other soft blonde hair. "Should we join him?" Akaashi laughed softly. "I'd love to, but there's a man twice my weight lying on top of me", he answered and playfully glared at the oblivious Bokuto.

Tsukishima snorted. "I don't think that anything short of an explosion could wake him up", he deadpanned but his amused smile betrayed him.

Akaashi shrugged and hesitated one more second before he slowly started to wiggle out of the older mans grasp. Bokuto furrowed his eyebrows and groaned a little in his sleep but then he rolled over, away from Akaashi, and snuggled back into the pillows. Tsukishima looked at him with that _I told you-_ glance he had mastered years ago and sat up to take his glasses from the nightstand.

Together they tapped out of the room and into the hallway where soft chatter could be heard from the kitchen.

"Good morning", Akaashi said quietly as he entered the small room, Tsukishima mumbled something too but the raven haired man wasn't too sure if it was as polite as his greeting.

Oikawa leaned against the counter, a neon green mug in his hands with ugly yellow stars adorning it and Akaashi actually felt personally offended for a second for being forced to look at that hideous thing with his very own eyes, Iwaizumi sat at the table and ate cereal, Kuroo next to him and apparently harassing the other male.

Lev, Yaku, Yahaba and Kyoutani were nowhere to be seen but the latter surely was resting after his night shift and Akaashi was fairly sure that his injured boyfriend was with him as well.

"Ah, Ke-chan, Tsukishima", Oikawa exclaimed. "Would you like some coffee or tea?" How could a person be this cheery in the morning? It truly was a miracle for Akaashi.

He just nodded softly and walked over to where the older boy stood, ignoring the glares that Tsukishima threw their way. 

A few minutes later they all sat down at the table, that was way too small for the five of them and ended up with Akaashi sitting in Kuroos lap, each one sipping on their cup. The younger man was incredibly grateful over the fact that he was holding one with polka dots and a small kitten on it and not one of the god awful space themed ones that apparently took up most of the space inside the cupboard.

"So what should we do?", Oikawa asked finally, once again his playful demeanor had vanished to let his business self surface. "I'm pretty sure my dad-" He cringed slightly but pretended he didn't, Akaashi saw Iwaizumis shoulder move just a tiny bit and he knew that he had squeezed his boyfriends thigh in support. "-knew the vigilantes, otherwise they wouldn't have known about his investigations. I mean he did know that I was involved so that was probably the reason why he didn't tell me but he would never share something like this with someone he didn't trust."

Iwaizumi hummed in agreement. "Also he didn't report it, which is pretty weird. I mean, he had more than enough evidence to take us all in, why didn't he?"

Kuroo laughed. "Revenge maybe? Maybe he was sick of people walking free because of lies and holes on the system, why do it the long way when you could just take them out yourself?", he asked and sipped on his tea, one hand holding the cup, the other resting on his boyfriends hip.

Oikawa was chewing his lips like he always did when he was thinking and Akaashi already inhaled to scold him when the older man started talking again.

"He wasn't like that though, plus he never lost anyone because of either of us, there's just no motive whatsoever", he said and squeezed his eyes shut for a second before opening them again. "But that could be the reasons why the others do it. Revenge, huh, how stereotypical."

"What about us?", asked Akaashi softly. "A lot of kills couldn't even traced back to _'The owls',_ how they apparently call us, at all. And those who could never were traced back to us as citizens, we were careful and good at what we did, so how?" 

It was frustrating to know that no matter how good you were, how hard you worked, that it didn't really matter in the end and Akaashi hated the dread that slowly pooled in the pit of his stomach, forgotten tears of anger build up behind his eyes but without attracting attention he just blinked them away.

Iwaizumi turned to Oikawa, lip between his teeth and the younger man din't like how he kept sending hesitant glances his way. "Maybe we really should call him", Tooru froze and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Hajime, we talked about this, it's not an option", he hissed between clenched teeth.

"Call who", Kuroo butted in, ice cold voice sending shivers up his two boyfriends spine because they knew that the raven haired man was angry even though his pokerface and usual smirk were in place.

"Nobody, we're not calling him", Oikawa said defensively and brushed his lovers hand from his thigh. "Trashkawa, we fucking need him and we both know it so if you could just bottle up your worthless pride for one-" "Hajime, I don't know about you but _my worthless pride_ and I remember the time he wanted to kill you and actually nearly killed Keji, and it also remembers the time he tried to force me into some sick relationship because he couldn't take any kind of rejection or was just too fucking dumb to understand that I didn't want anything with him but yeah let's pretend this never happened right?", he huffed angrily and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Wait you want to get Ushiwaka?", Kuroo asked disbelieving. "Ushi _baka!_ ", corrected Tooru annoyed, Akaashi could see Tsukishima smiling behind his hand, that bastard. 

Iwaizumi sighed annoyed and rubbed his temple before he spoke again. "Shiratorizawa is gigantic, they have files on pretty much every citizen of Japan and I didn't mean to get overly friendly with him, just a deal or something, our new clients against information or something."

Tsukishima snorted. "Yeah, let's pretend I don't remember what color the blood of my boyfriend is and ask him for help, right?", he said, sarcasm dripping from every word. 

In that exact second Bokuto decided to walk in, loud yawn ripping from his throat as he scratched his shirtless chest and looked around the room. "Morning."

When he took in the tense air and the angry faces he hesitated.

"You know what I'm still kinda tired, I think I'm gonna head back to sleep", he added and turned around just when a sharp voice called out to him. "Bokuto, stay." "But Tsukki-" "Don't Tsukki me and sit the fuck down, pretty boys man wants to make a suicide pack."

The black and white haired man was now not only confused but also slightly frightened.

Iwaizumi scoffed. "I'm just trying to fucking keep you alive, alright?", he bit out an Akaashi was starting to get worried that this would get really ugly.

Then something happened that nobody expected and collectively their heads turned towards the hallway where the sound came from. 

The doorbell rung.

"Are the others out?", Tsukishima asked confused but only got a small 'no' in response.

Without hesitating another second Akaashi grabbed the gun that lied on the counter, it was probably Iwaizumis, and marched through the hallway. He looked through the peephole but was only met with the orange and red shadows of someone pressing their hand against the glass. The raven haired boy clicked his tongue, it was the same noise the gun made when he turned the safety off and somehow he felt comforted by the familiar weight of bullets.

"Who's there?", he asked but was only met with a fist pounding against the plastic wrapped wood. "No name, no entry", he clarified and carefully slid to the side, where he could comfortably reach for the doorknob while still keeping his clean shootline towards the outside.

"Open it, we got you", a voice behind him said and when he turned around he was met with Kyoutani and Yahaba who both held their own firearms. The blonde didn't seem to excited to have his boyfriend back in danger that quickly but Akaashi knew how convincing -and scary- that boy could be. Also it was fairly impressing how he apparently had no problems with holding his gun with his left hand and still keeping it steady.

With a last deep breath Akaashi reached forward, hot fingertips grazing the cold metal and he swore his heart actually skipped a beat when he pressed down and immediately raised his weapon and hurried a step back.

He aimed and locked but before he could even attempt to reach for the trigger long arms wrapped around his slim shoulders and efficiently made the gun drop to the floor. A startled cry left his throat and he could hear loud steps nearing the entrance.

He coughed slightly and pushed away.

"Iwaizumi-san?", he asked disbelieving as he took the short woman in front of him in. She wore her long hair open and a briefcase was carelessly left on the doorstep.

"My, my, Ke-chan, it's been way too long! How have you been? Why did you break into my flat?", she asked excitedly and stole a glance behind him. "And who are these gentleman, new boyfriends? You really have an eye for them", she exclaimed jokingly and playfully punched his shoulder. Akaashi was convinced that it would bruise in no time.

"Obasan?", the younger, more male Iwaizumi said then. "I thought you were in Hokkaido on business?"

The woman already seemed to be distracted from her current victim and strode forward to engulf her nephew in a tight embrace. "Hajime, there you are, who are your friends? Huh, you didn't grow at all how disappointing", she just kept on rambling. Kyoutani looked even more grumpy than usual which probably meant that he didn't understand what the hell was going on.

Akaashi couldn't hold it against him.

 

 

"So, Oi-chans father is dead, people are trying to kill you all and that's why you decided to crash into my flat, Iwaizumi didn't grow a single inch and Akaashi didn't even get new boyfriends, somehow I imagined my trip to Tokyo a little more promising", Makoto frowned into her mug, she looked more like a pouting child than a grown woman at the moment.

"I already have three", Akaashi said desperately and clung to his own glass. They all had moved to the living room after the hallway became way too stuffed with also Yaku and Lev waking up, they were now all sat around the coffee-table, each nursing their own hot beverage -or in Iwaizumis case tequila- and filled the older woman in on what had happened the last two or three days.

Makoto tutted disapproving and put her tea back onto the glass surface before moving closer to the raven haired boy, who totally wasn't forced to sit next to her, it was all by free will -just not his. "Ke-chan", she started and pulled his head against her chest, sometimes Akaashi wished he was at least bi so he could appreciate the boobs but life wasn't fair and he didn't like bags of fat pressed against his face. "You deserve all the boyfriends", she continued in a simple tone, like she was speaking to a child. "You understand me? All of them."

"Are you implying that I'm not enough?", Tsukishima asked annoyed and raised an eyebrow, somewhere in the distance a chorus of broken _"Tsukki!"s_ could be heard.

"Especially not you megane-kun", she said wistfully and her words were mean but the tone of her voice sounded far a way and sad, Akaashi wasn't sure if he was comforted or scared by that.

"I love my boyfriends very much and they are more than I could have ever wished for", Akaashi stated in a muffled, deadpan voice. He hoped it was convincing enough.

"Anyways", Oikawa butted in. "Maybe we should try to concentrate on the task on hand, the fact that somebody is trying to kill us, but I mean, I totally get that you'd rather talk about Ke-chans love life."

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes but Akaashi knew that he agreed with his boyfriend. "Plus not everyone is that fond of your breasts Obasan", he added and scooted a bit away from his aunt. Makoto gasped in horror but was thankfully offended enough to pull away from the young man and turn to her nephew. 

"You take that back, Aka-chan tell him that my boobs are awesome." "Iwaizumi-san, I am indeed a homosexual individual, I do not have any stronger desires to be near any womans breasts", he tried to gently console her, she didn't seem to have listened.

 

With a last huff Makoto leaned back into the cushions and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You really fucked up this time, didn't you?", she then asked gently, the playful tone had vanished to give her worry space and somehow it was comforting to know that she could stay serious if she really wanted. It made the men in the room feel a lot more protected.

"We did", Akaashi admitted. "And we aren't exactly sure how to fix it." "Well, we could still-", Iwaizumi started but Oikawa slapped his thigh. "We won't", he hissed. Makoto immediately perked up in interest. "Finish your sentence, Hajime", she demanded with a glint in her eye and a kind of dominance that expected to be obeyed to.

The black haired male threw one last glance to his boyfriend before he started explaining how he had thought about joining forces with Shiratorizawa.

Makoto clicked her tongue in distaste.

"Ushijima certainly is an unpleasant person but unfortunately Hajime is right. Shiratorizawa is strong and big, plus it's not only located in Japan but also in China and America, you would be safe if they actually agreed to the deal but I am worried about the conditions they might have", she said and looked at each of them. "Right now you aren't depending on their mercy but that could change later on. We still have no idea who we are messing here, of course those people chasing you could be just some wanna be heroes or vigilantes but they could also be from another gang or something."

Akaashi froze in his place, he hadn't thought about that.

Tsukishima shifted on the love seat he sat on and glanced to his boyfriend, thankfully their eyes met and the blonde send him a small but still reassuring smile. It said _we'll get through this so don't worry_. Akaashi hoped his blink sounded like an _I love you._

 

 

Kenmas fingers danced across his keyboard as he tried to avoid the blue arrows that chased him across the screen. The music picked up, the fast sounds, that could not be mistaken for anything but battle music, blared through his headphones and efficiently made him forget everything and everyone around him.

He had started playing a game that Hinata had showed him and at first he wasn't that convinced of it's quality but the more he played the more addicted he became. 

It was a simple RPG-Game with a very nice soundtrack and a lot of hidden details that the blue haired boy adored, there was so much passion and love poured into those simple pixels and witty character exchanges that just made his heart swell in excitement.

 _Undertale_ was about a human who fell into a hole in the ground right into the world of monsters who had been forced to flee after the humans had won a war, and while the story seemed to be pretty cliched in the beginning it just became more and more complex the more you proceeded forward.

Kenma was so immersed that he hadn't noticed the small click the front door made when it unlocked.

Sighing the small man threw his head back when once again the white letters announced that he had died yet another time, the genocide route certainly was hard. He decided to just safe for now and get up to prepare some of his college material when he noticed a sharp blow of wind rushing through the apartment.

"Shouyo?", he asked confused but a bad feeling settled in his stomach as he slowly proceeded forward.

There was nobody in the hallway but the front door was opened wide and suddenly a sense of panic washed over Kenma and he darted towards the kitchen to just get some sort of weapon.

His steps echoed way too loudly in his ears and the adrenaline in his blood told him to just run away, to just leave and hide himself away from any danger but he knew that that wasn't an option.

He was relieved when he stepped over the doorstep of the kitchen and rushed forward to the counter but that small feeling of safety vanished the second he heard a loud click behind him.

"Move and I'll blow your fucking brains out."

 

 

Akaashi frowned down onto his phone.

"Hey, you okay?", Bokuto asked softly and slung his arms around the younger mans waist to rest his head on the others shoulder. "I'm not sure", he answered. "Something's weird."

The black and white haired male glanced down onto his boyfriends screen and caught a glance of the familiar grey shades of the SMS system of their phones. "Kenma?", he asked and tried to read the message.

"Yeah, he asked me to meet him", Akaashi mumbled, even deeper frowns etched themselves into his forehead. Bokuto tensed slightly. "Anything else?" Akaashi shook his head.

"Like, I know that this whole thing is scary but why didn't he just call or something? He isn't even answering my messages and", he hesitated. "I'm not sure but something feels off and I really don't like it."

"What'cha doing?", someone else then asked and another pair of arms found their way around Akaashis hips.

"Keji is worried about Kenma." "What? Why?", Kuroo immediately asked and locked eyes with his younger boyfriend. "Did he say something?" "I'm not sure but they way he acts is just really weird." Akaashi handed him his phone and leaned back into Bokutos embrace. 

"Maybe I should just go and meet up with him, it's probably nothing", he sighed and closed his eyes, his boyfriend gently swayed him from one side to another.

Just then loud voices could be heard from the living room where the others were still arguing about what to do now. It was certain that they couldn't stay in Iwaizumi Makotos apartment that much longer, seeing as it was pretty easy to find and trace back to her and therefore to Hajime but a hotel was out of question and none of them owned anything remotely close to a safe house.

The thing about Aoba Johsai was that it was a really small gang but still incredibly influential. They didn't sell drugs to handlers on the street like most others but to high-end club owners and big people in the economic and show business. Their discreet and efficient way of working became really popular with private clients who liked to keep being cautious.

"We won't let you go alone though", Kuroo finally said and handed back the phone. "Somethings is definitely up and we will find out just what exactly it is."


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this chapter actually got beta-read and edited by [prince-zale](http://prince-zale.tumblr.com/) and it honestly improved the whole thing so so much and I'm so thankful for all his help and comments so please go and give him some love!

Tsukishima sighed.

After the discussion in the living room had subsided the four of them decided to go back to their room, where they proceeded to tell their youngest boyfriend about what happened.

"I just don't want you to put yourself in even more danger than you are already," he said softly and glanced up to his boyfriends from where he was sat on the bed. "None of you, actually."

Akaashi carefully sat down next to him and let their shoulders bump together. "I'm worried about Kenma," he said. "He's acting weird, he wasn't even supposed to be texting me and it's just-" He hesitated. "What if something happened to him?" The raven haired boy looked up at the blonde, desperately tried to look for some change, some hint of him budging.There was a lot of hesitation and repeated glasses fixing and fidgeting until- "Oikawa has to go with us," he finally said, surprising the others with the statement.

"Oikawa?" Bokuto repeated, confused, and sneaked a glance to Kuroo but, he didn't seem to get it either.

Tsukishima sighed again. "It's his fault we're in this mess so, he's gonna take responsibility for everything even remotely dangerous," he said. He probably tried to sound angry, or at least hateful but, only resignation and a small tinge of annoyance seeped into his words.He was tired of the constant discussions and arguing.

"Akaashi,” he addressed the other man then, a lot quieter this time. "Could you maybe just please stay here?" Akaashi opened his mouth, ready to contradict, but the blonde already continued. "We want you to be safe, alright? That's all. I know that you’re worried about Kenma because he might be in danger, but imagine how I feel, knowing that you want to put yourself in his place.”

The raven haired man’s shut his mouth tightly and he suddenly felt burning embarrassment heating up the tips of his ears. He hadn't thought about it like that and he couldn't help but chastise himself inwardly for his thoughtless selfishness.

"You're in danger too, though,"- he heard himself saying. "What’s the difference?-" The words sounded so, so wrong leaving his mouth like that, they sounded like an accusation, when all he wanted was to express his own care for his boyfriends.

Kuroo sighed loudly and stepped forward, just to let himself drop onto both of their laps, earning surprised inhales of air. There had been way too much sighing today, even for Tsukishima’s standards. 

"How come all my boyfriends are such drama queens?" Kuroo questioned and, ironically, it sounded pretty theatrical. Akaashi readjusted himself slightly so that both of them could lie more comfortably, while Tsukishima straight out tried to shove the other man off.

"Get up, you’re heavy," he grunted, annoyed.

"Aw, babe, I'm hurt," Kuroo just laughed and made sure to cover even more of the younger man with his limbs. "Oi, Bo, what do you think you're doing? Come here!"

The black and white haired male obliged without hesitation and immediately  bounced onto the big bed next to Akaashi. He just threw his arms around the other male and efficiently took him down with him so that all of them were now sprawled over the bed.Arms and legs were tangled together in a comfortable mess of body parts and something about the familiarity of it all made warmth stir in Akaashi’s stomach.

"Hey 'kaashi," Bokuto mumbled happily into the others skin. It was so inappropriate to turn this serious matter into something happy and enjoyable, but the raven haired man couldn't find it in him to complain.

"From memes to murder in seconds," he whispered to himself and smiled a little, it earned him a confused look from his boyfriends but he just shook his head.

"Wait, we are going, right?," Akaashi then asked, still unsure about the decision they had actually made.

Tsukishima rolled around to face him and just looked in his eyes for a few seconds before he blinked slowly. "Yeah," he sighed. "I guess so. Trashkawa has to come too, though."

"You do know that Iwaizumi will kick your ass when he finds out that you're calling him that, right?" The blonde nodded but for some reason Akaashi knew he would continue insulting Oikawa.

"So should we start getting ready and stuff or-?"Kuroo questioned and rolled onto his stomach, earning a breathless groan from Tsukishima.  

Akaashi nodded silently in agreement and carefully wiggled out of his boyfriends’ grasps to get his weapons. "Casual wear should be fine, we don't want to attract any unwanted attention," he said more to himself than anyone else, while securing the holster under his sweatshirt. 

He contemplated if taking knives with him would be necessary,deciding to bring one, just in case.

Kuroo was the next to get up and he skillfully let two knifes disappear in his right trousers leg and another one in his sleeve. "Don't hurt yourself," Tsukishima warned, he did that every time the older man did this, even though they all were well aware of the elastic hair ties Kuroo always kept at his ankles and wrists for this exact purpose.

"Shush," he replied with a laugh and took the blonde’s gun out of the closet and threw it to its rightful owner. Thankfully, they had taken most of their regular weapons with them on their last mission and therefore, had them all in Iwaizumi Makoto’s apartment.Clothes were starting to become a problem though, they couldn't keep borrowing from Oikawa’s and Iwaizumi’s wardrobe. Or, in Tsukishima’s case, Lev’s. The blonde wasn't happy at all over the fact that his height didn't allow him to wear the older mens’ stuff and that he was forced into the hideous colored sweaters the half-russian owned.

Bokuto sat up on the edge of the bed and kicked his feet in the air, even though he had to physically raise his knees to do so without brushing against the floor. It looked just as ridiculous as it sounded. "Who's telling Oikawa?" Oh yeah, they had to do that too.

Akaashi sighed. "I will, you get ready,” he said and walked towards the door. "You too, Tsukki."

"I trusted you, Keji."

The older man laughed as he exited and slowly moved to the living room, where Oikawa sat with Makoto, Yaku and Lev, Iwaizumi was, thankfully, nowhere to be seen.

 

"Hey, Tooru, I need to talk to you," Akaashi addressed the man and shot an uncertain glance in Yaku’s direction, he didn't feel like getting scrutinized by him. Thankfully, the short man didn't even look up from the book he was reading, and continued to curl into the loveseat.

Oikawa seemed to be a little surprised by the request but, got up nonetheless and followed the raven haired male into the hallway where he leaned against the wall and tugged his sleeves over his hands. "Are you okay?" was the first thing he asked, worried eyes sizing the younger man up.

Suddenly Akaashi felt guilty.

"Kenma is probably in danger and we're going to check on him," he answered finally. "Tsukishima wants you to come with us." Oikawa’s eyes widened and his hands, which were fiddling with his sweater just a second ago, dropped to his side.

"Wait, Kenma? How-"

"He sent me a text,asking me to meet up with him. We are pretty sure it was not him who sent the message. Kei doesn't trust you and wants you be with us in case things turn for the worse so that you _'_ d ‘ _T_ _ake responsibility._ _’”_

A small  _”Oh”_ left Oikawa’s lips but he recollected himself in the next second.

"Alright, I'll just tell Iwa-chan and then I'm ready to go.Where are you supposed to meet up?" The old cheeriness was back in place and Akaashi wasn't sure if he should be relieved or annoyed.

"Nekoma and don't tell Iwaizumi, he wouldn't let you go and we really have to leave."

"Nekoma? Isn't that way too public to pull something off?"

Akaashi just shrugged.

 

 

The inside of the car was completely silent, not even Oikawa dared to speak up.

It was still midday and the streets of Tokyo were bustling with life.The doors and windows of shops and apartments were opened wide to allow the soft summer heat to intrude. Akaashi knew that the smog and pressuring warmth were not appealing in the least, especially not inside your own home, but he knew that he would have done the same thing if he had been at his own flat. The hollow feeling in his chest and the clenching of his stomach could only be interpreted as being homesick and the raven haired man shook is head in irritation. It had been less that two days, there was no reason to make a fuss like this.

"So, the text says Nekoma?" Oikawa then piped up. He was one of these annoying people that kept both hands on the steering wheel while driving and never looked away from the windshield. "Isn't that way too public?"

Tsukishima fidgeted a bit in the passenger seat before answering. "Yeah, it probably is," his voice sounded far away like he was talking to himself. Nothing added up and all of them were aware of that.

They had no leads whatsoever, no suspects or evidence. None of them would ever admit it, but it was incredibly unnerving. People didn't just go and try assassinate assassins, even if they were vigilantes or in a gang, like Makoto had added, there still had to be motives.

 _The_ _O_ _wls,_ as they were apparently called, worked for pretty much everyone. They had killed for gangs, private clients and sometimes even for law enforcers. There was no other reason to  go after them, except for revenge, right?

Akaashi sighed and let his head fall against the window The cool glass was soothing against his slowly growing headache and it made him feel a little less stressed. 

"Maybe it was Kenma," he said lamely, but the tone of his voice made clear that not even he believed his own words.

Kuroo clicked his tongue. "It wasn't." He spoke with such finality that it made the others shut up.Nobody dared to disobey such an authority that seeped from every word, and even Tsukishima seemed a little frightened by it.

A few minutes later, they stopped at one of the parking houses that were strewn around in the entire city.It was the closest to Nekoma, and Akaashi and Oikawa always met up here when they wanted to go to the small coffee-shop together.With that in mind, maybe the notification the former received wasn't as unexpected as he thought.

 

**From:  Kozume Kenma**

**To: Akaashi Keiji**

_Roof Level._

 

"It's definitely not him," Kuroo scowled at the message, having read it over Akaashi’s shoulder. Usually the younger man would scold him for disrespecting personal space but, this occasion excused the other’s poor manners.

Oikawa frowned. "The rooftop is closed off due to the increasing suicide cases around the town", he observed, brows furrowed, before reaching into the glove compartment to pull out an old fashioned revolver. It was carefully carved with shapes of roses, the only indication of it being used were the markings at the barrel that came from frequent shooting.

"Koutarou, if anything happens just drive off," Tsukishima said, checking the bullets in his own weapon for one last time before turning of the safety.

"Tsukki, I ca-"

"Yes you can.Call Iwaizumi while leaving, he'll know what to do." 

The black and  white haired man seemed to be deeply conflicted and Akaashi couldn't help but empathize. Bokuto just wanted to keep them all safe, the same way he did.

Kuroo didn't let his boyfriend argue further and started moving.Surprisingly the black haired man was always in command during their missions. Maybe it was because he had always done this, lead them.Or maybe it was something he inherited from his own parents, who knew?

They took the stairs and thankfully, no civilians crossed them on their way. Akaashi didn't know how they would have reacted if they did.

His hands were sweating, the black gloves they all wore and the constant heat emitting from the sun, even protruding into the usually cold parking house, didn't mix well, and the young man deeply hoped it wouldn't affect their mission.

 _Mission._ It sounded so wrong. Saving one of your best friends from a danger that you created yourself shouldn't sound like just another job.

Kuroo rounded the corner leading to the last door in the stairway first, Tsukishima next, then Akaashi and Oikawa.They stood there, leaning against the cold concrete, and waited a second to catch their breath.

"Everyone good to go?", Kuroo asked, readjusting the knives in his sleeve so they wouldn't accidentally dig into his own flesh in case it came to a fight. Tsukishima nodded imperceptibly and the other two just answered with a small "Yes" before turning off their safeties as well and getting into their preferred alert positions.

Kuroo held up three fingers and reached for the doorknob.

Akaashi inhaled and closed his eyes, his whole body relaxed as he entered a deep state of concentration, his fingers fell easily in the right position and when he exhaled a single thought was on his mind.  _Kenma._  

Two fingers.

Tsukishima readjusted his glasses slightly and brushed his blonde hair back with his hand.He really hoped it wouldn't get in the way. The weapon in his hands felt foreign, even though he handled it for years now, and his feet constantly changed positions, unsure which one would be the best. Akaashi’s breath tickled his neck and immediately the blond calmed down. He had to protect him, had to protect both of his boyfriends and even Oikawa, so he took a deep breath and looked at the heavy metal door in front of him.

One.

Oikawa didn't like to fight, the thought of blood made him queasy but, right now wasn't the right time to be sensitive towards trivial things like that. The revolver he held wasn't his own, it used to be his dad’s. Not that anyone needed to know that.

Zero.

Kuroo pushed the door open and moved to the side as a large figure flew in his direction, a surprised yell leaving his lips. Tsukishima raised his gun and pulled the trigger once, twice, three times and the object fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Hay and pieces of fabric exploded all over the parking lot.

"What the fuck," was Tsukishima’s only comment and Akaashi had to agree with it.

Somebody had just thrown a bag filled with dead grass at them and, by the looks of it, no one else besides them stood on the rooftop.

Reluctantly, Akaashi took a step out into the open and looked around. There were no cars up here and the only indicator for the suicides was a bright yellow plastic tape that was wrapped around the railing, helplessly flattered in the wind.

The raven haired man lowered his gun slightly and began to turn back to his boyfriends’ and Oikawa.It was at that exact moment that he saw something glimmering in the sun.

His eyes widened and his body pretty much went into autopilot. As the barrel locked onto him, Akaashi threw himself to the concrete, and only a fraction of a second later, he could hear bullets searing over his head, hitting the stone behind him and destroying everything in its wake.

His hands gripped his gun tightly as he blindly pointed it upwards and pulled his own trigger.The bullets only hit the edge of the stairwell cover and had no chance of hitting the person up there. He hadn't managed to get a good look on them but, they seemed to be incredibly tall and well built. Their aim was slightly off though, which proved to be an advantage on his side.

"Keiji!" Kuroo’s voice rang through to him.His back was pressed against the wall to avoid becoming a target as well.Tsukishima looked uncertain before he rushed around the corner and disappeared out of the raven haired man’s vision. Oikawa just seemed to be very confused where he still stood in the doorway, gun half raised. 

 _"Yo, is everything okay?"_ Bokuto’s voice came through the earpiece.

Akaashi sighed.

Meanwhile, Tsukishima had managed to round the small building and was currently trying to climb the old, rusty ladder that led up to the top without being noticed. 

He held his gun in his mouth, biting carefully into the rubber around the handle of the weapon to avoid leaving marks, as this was his favorite one. Bokuto’s voice threw him off guard slightly but, he caught himself quickly again.

With fierce determination, he put his hands on the edge of the rooftop and pulled the rest of his body up in one smooth motion.To his horror, he hit the ladder with his foot and it made a loud, metallic sound. The blonde’s eyes widened and it felt like his heart had jumped into his throat as he saw the bulky figure in front of him twirl around.

 _"Fuck,"_  Tsukishima cursed under his breath, muffled due to the weapon still located in his mouth. He quickly reached for it however, the man in front of him was faster, and violently tugged his arm away, which made both of their guns clatter to the ground.

The first punch came from his left side, fast approaching and definitely powerful but, Tsukishima was well aware of it coming so, he managed to duck under it in the last second.He kicked out one of his feet against the other’s shins but, when he was met with unwavering strength and balance, Tsukishima realized he had fucked up.

The stranger raised his leg and without an ounce of hesitation, he slammed it down into Tsukishima’s side and forced the blonde man to lose his footing and crash into the ground. White hot pain seared through him and he could feel blood filling his mouth from where he had bit his tongue in an attempt not to cry out.

_"Tsukki, Akaashi wants to know where you are."_

The problem was, Tsukkiwas unable to talk right now, seeing as another kick, aimed at his head this time, flew down and he barely managed to roll around to avoid it. His side screamed in protest at the fast movements and he couldn't help but let a small gasp escape his mouth.

His gun!

He needed to get his gun, but where the hell was it? 

It was a wonder that Tsukishima’s glasses were still in tact, but he managed to see that the desired object was only a few feet away from him, the black metal contrasting greatly against the dirty grey of the cement building.

He scrambled on his knees and reached forward, desperation and the pure will to live numbing his injuries, but before his fingers could close around the weapon another kick send him flying towards the edge of rooftop.

 _"Tsukki?"_ Bokuto sounded panicked now, his energetic voice laced with worry and the blonde even imagines to hear his other boyfriends’ voices in the air.

"Rooftop-rooftop," was all he managed to say before a large, calloused hand gripped him around the collar and lifted him into the air like it was no effort at all. Fingers dug into his skin and closed around his throat, efficiently cutting off all of his air. Tsukishima was left dangling in some stranger’s hands, coughing and gasping for oxygen that would not find its way into his lungs.

"I hate," the fingers squeezed even more than before.It made the blonde feel nauseous and dizzy and a sudden sense of panic seared through him as he weakly kicked his legs out, his own nails scratching and injuring the other’s arm.Maybe if he was more coherent, he would have noticed the youth the other’s voice held, would have remembered it. "People like you!"

Dark spots danced in front of Tsukishima’s vision, hands falling to his sides as he could feel his consciousness slip.He was painfully aware that it took less than half a minute for someone to go unresponsive after compressing the two carotid arteries and less than five minutes to die from it.

They were searching for him, right? Akaashi, Kuroo and even Oikawa were looking for him at this very moment, Bokuto knew where he was so he would be able to tell the others, everything would be alright.

His eyes rolled back and he could feel his mind getting hazy, he couldn't see  anything, couldn't hear, it was like he was devoid of senses except for the voice screaming at the back of his head that he was dying. He was dying!

A lone tear rolled down his cheeks but it felt all so far away.

He wondered if Bokuto knew that he loved him.Sometimes it felt like Tsukishima’s teasing had gone too far and, in this very second, the thing that scared the blonde the most was that his boyfriends’ never knew how much he truly adored them.He was terrified of the thought - that he had never the chance to just tell them, and he hated himself for being too fucking proud and scared to just straight out say "I love you" in a non-sarcastic or non-teasing way.

He wanted them to know that out of all the people in his life, they were the only ones that he didn't feel like leaving.He wanted them to know that every good night kiss, that every playlist on his phone, every annoying movie on their shelves were for them. He wanted them to know that his love wasn't in physical affection but, in the small gestures.

 _'I saw this film and it was so stupid that you would probably enjoy it_ _,_ _'_ was nothing more than him saying,  _'It reminded me of you and I wanted to make you happy.'_

Tsukishima had so many regrets, had made so many mistakes but this shouldn't be one of them.

But maybe.

Maybe it was too late.

 

 

Kenma woke up with a gasp.

He was in complete darkness and had no indications whatsoever of his current location.It scared him way more than he would like to admit.

"Shouyo," he breathed out and cold fear seeped into his body, turning his racing heart into ice and paralyzing his thoughts. They didn't hurt him, they couldn't have, was Hinata even home when his kidnappers had taken him away? Speaking of...The blue haired man reached up to his temple and winced when the hot, swollen flesh burned under his touch.

It had stopped bleeding which was good but, Kenma knew that head injuries shouldn't be taken lightly, especially if they resulted in unconsciousness. He didn't even know how long he was out, it could have been hours or days after all.

Kenma forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down.

Right now the most important thing he had to do was think and try to analyze his surroundings. His hands weren't bound which was good, though, after a short search of his pockets, he noticed that his phone and keys were gone. This left him with only the clothes he wore, which weren't much, he didn't even wear shoes.

He sighed and brushed a strand of hair behind his ear before carefully looking around. 

The room was dark, except for a tiny sliver of light that shone through the bottom of the doorstep.It seemed to be pretty cramped and he quickly realized, after reaching out with his hands, that there were shelves lining the walls.

Where was he? Some kind of storage room maybe?

He frowned in disappointment.In video games people usually got held hostage in some kind of abandoned warehouse, or in the basements of lavish mansions of rich super-villains. He suddenly realized that he should probably stop expecting real life to go like his games.

Kenma was just about to stand up and see if the door was open - which was unlikely but, trying anyways surely wouldn't harm anyone - when he heard voices nearing the room.

The shrill sound of keys clinking together and then, finally the telltale scratching of someone unlocking the door.

Somebody was coming in. 

 

 


	8. Eight

_ Her grip tightened around his arm and he whimpered quietly as he desperately tried to keep up with her long strides. _

_ "I won't stand for this!" she screeched and yanked the boy forward, still unaware, or uncaring, of his obvious struggles. "You won't disgrace me like this, you hear me?" _

_ They entered a small house and immediately Akaashi felt uneasy. The air was thick and heavy with smoke, and it smelt distinctly like something was dying in the midst of the dust and broken glass that littered the hallway. _

_ "Mom, I'm sorry," he whimpered softly and once again tried to free himself from her iron grip but, she just glared down on him and forced the teenager to obey her. _

_ "You brought this onto yourself." Her voice was cold and devoid of anything but blind accusation. The way her teeth  clenched together contrasted her usually so beautiful face. The grimace she wore right now held something horrifying. She sure as hell wasn't the woman that he had loved and cared for, she was nothing but a demon tormenting him. _

_ Her nails dug into his skin, and he swore it would break, she entered yet another room and Akaashi felt bile rise up his throat when the smell intensified. _

_ "People can fix you Keji." _

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akaashi raised his gun, without hesitation and shot. 

The bullets hit his target spot on but the figure only seemed to be slightly disturbed as he dropped the blonde boy and took a step backwards.

"Bulletproof vest, are you kidding me?" Kuroo asked annoyed as he stepped onto the roof as well.His eyes immediately flew towards Tsukishima, who was slumped against the concrete and didn't move.

Keji shot again, cold determination and pain flooding into every movement, stilling his arms enough so that he could aim and pull the trigger. Head, shoulder, chest, leg, leg, that was the routine he had learnt the first time Kuroo had taken him to a shooting rink but right now it didn't seem to do what it was supposed to.

"Helmet as well," he added annoyed and tried shooting again, only to be met by a hollow clicking sound. Akaashis eyes widened.

The man in black seemed to notice the disruption and quickly surged forward. His reactions were ridiculous fast for someone of his build. The younger man was barely able to avoid him as the man jumped from the small roof and his heavy boots were the only indication of him running towards the exit.

"Oikawa!" Kuroo screamed into his headset but it was loud enough that the other man should be able to hear it like that, next thing they knew there was a surprised yelp and shots rung through the parking lot.

"I'll check on him, you on Tsukki," Kuroo commanded breathlessly and darted towards the ladder. Akaashi decided to not hesitate any longer and rushed towards Tsukishima.

The raven haired man carefully rolled him onto his back and exposed the blondes pale neck, covered in nasty red and white swellings that had the distinct shapes of large hands wrapping around the mans entire throat.

Akaashi carefully put his index and middle finger towards the others neck and applied just the tiniest bit of pressure. 

Nothing.

The older man felt sick to his stomach but he quickly swallowed all of his worry and panic in favor of concentrating on the task on hand. He relocated his fingers, maybe he had just searched at the wrong spot, things like that happened all the time and he shouldn't be so melodramatic right now. He pressed down and hoped and prayed for the telltale flutter of skin over veins that would confirm to him that his boyfriend was-

That his boyfriend was..

"Tsukki?" he asked softly and shook the blondes shoulders, tears welled up in Akaashis eyes. "Tsukki, this isn't funny, please." His begging fell onto deaf ears and he desperately tried to find  _ some _ kind of pulse.

He put his fingers on the younger mans wrist next but his hands were shaking way too hard and he didn't manage to find the right veins. Then,he just laid his head on the others chest, which, in medical terms, probably wasn't the best idea, but he just needed some kind of confirmation that he hadn't lost one of his boyfriends right here, on the top of this roof.

He forced himself to steady his breath so that his own panicked gasps and hammering heart didn't drown out the others pulse.

Wind blew over the parking lot and took some of the unbearable summer heat with it. Deep down in the streets he could hear the soft chatter of people talking and cars driving and he wondered if somebody had heard the shots, if somebody had called the police.

Out of experience he knew that that probably wasn't the case. Nobody assumed that the  loud noises disrupting their day were the sound of bullets hitting, killing. It was too unlikely, you see?

Akaashi grasped the soft cotton of his boyfriends shirt between his fingers and burrowed his face in the material. Tears turned the soft shades of blue into hues of dark grey but he didn't have it in him to apologizeright now. He just lied there and tried to listen.

"Keji?" a breathless voice disrupted him and immediately the raven haired man shot up and was met with light brown eyes that squinted up to him.

"Oh my god, Tsukki, you're okay, you're okay, alright?" he rambled and put his hands on the others cheek. "Are you hurt somewhere else? Did the bastard injure you anywhere? Is that  _ blood _ ?"

Tsukishima sluggishly patted his hands with his own and coughed a few times before he said anything. "Bit my tongue," his voice was still rough and uneven and Akaashi knew he shouldn't force him to talk but right now he was just so glad his boyfriend was alive and breathing and in a responsive state that he couldn't help but bury his face again in the others chest.

"Don't do that again, you bastard," he scolded softly but the fondness and happiness that rung in his voice kinda took away the effect.

Tsukishima laughed, or at least he tried to, but the next second had him wheezing.

"Tsukki?" another voice disrupted them and before Akaashi could look up, Kuroo had already wrapped his arms around both of them.

"Get off!" Tsukishima complained and tried to push the older man off, even in his weakened state, but it was to no avail. 

"I'm so glad you're all alive," Kuroo mumbled into their shirts and squeezed them just a little bit tighter, earning a pained whine from the blonde. 

"Is Oikawa okay?" Akaashi then asked and tried to shove the other raven haired man away but he wasn't only taller, but also stronger than the younger man and therefore had no problem with keeping them in his grip like that. "Ya, got a bloody nose but that's about it," Kuroo answered and his tone of voice was way too happy to fit the matter of the conversation.

_ "Can I have an update, please? And who the hell just raced down the parking house?"  _  Bokutos voice echoed through their headphones.

"Tsukki is injured but alive, the princess is a little shaken up, but that's about it, and 'kaashi and I are okay," Kuroo answered and  _ finally   _ stood up again. "We're gonna come down now so pack your technology stuff away."

Akaashi took that as his cue to stand up as well, but still hovered around Tsukishima, who didn't seem to plan on getting up anytime soon.

The oldest out of the three sighed and made quick work of picking up the blonde and carefully cradling him against his chest. There was blood soaking into both of their shirts from a big laceration at Tsukishimas side but Kuroo didn't even bat an eye.

"Let's go home," he whispered softly and carefully climbed down the ladder single handed, Akaashi following him. They collected Oikawa on the way who held his nose in a daze and they had to drag him with them to make sure he wouldn't get lost in his state of confusion.

"He really can't handle blood, can he?" Akaashi commented with a sigh and earned a soft laugh from his older boyfriend. "Kind of unfitting for his line of work."

Bokuto already leaned against the outside of the car when they exited the stairway on the right level and the black and white haired man already rushed in their direction when he saw them arriving.

"Shit, what happened? I only heard gun shots and screaming and then you looked for Tsukki, oh god, Tsukki, is he okay?" he rambled and Akaashi had to pat his face awkwardly a few times before he got his boyfriend to shut up.

"We're fine, I'll tell you everything on the ride back, okay?"

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_ He carefully closed the closet door and held his breath. _

_ Voices, there were voices outside in the hallway, but he didn't dare venture outside, wasn't sure if he recognized them or not, so he just closed his eyes. _

_ All he could concentrate on right now was the fading pain in his upper arm where his mother had grabbed him earlier. Akaashi couldn't quite comprehend what exactly had happened, all he knew was that he felt numb and somehow angry. _

_ He never had felt like this, it terrified him. It was like the heat that simmered in his stomach transformed him into something else and his thoughts quickly turned uglier and uglier. His breathing grew harsher and he desperately bit his lip in an attempt to keep quiet, to not give away his hiding spot but it felt like there was no oxygen in his lungs, god, he felt like he was suffocating. _

_ Nothing. _

_ Nothing made sense. _

_ Akaashis nails dug into his flesh, crescent marks tearing redness into his otherwise pale complexion, not quite enough to draw blood. He was glad for that. _

_ A door closed, the heavy sound echoed through the small apartment and then the only noise he heard was the soft clicking of heels on wood.  _

_ So she was still there, huh? _

_ Well, not for long. _

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"What the hell did you do?" Iwaizumi seethed the second they opened the door and entered. "Where's Tooru?" Mentioned boy stepped forward, hand still raised to cover his blood smudged face but the red drops on his shirt were indignation enough to what he tried to hide.

"Chill, we were just out for a bit," Kuroo answered, kinda breathless due to carrying the tall blonde through the entire apartment complex. 

Yaku was the next to step into the hallway, eyes immediately widening in concern when he took in the beat up state the five guys were. "Is Tsukishima okay?" he asked worried and quickly rushed forward to take a look at the weakened blonde, who just groaned in response. "What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Iwaizumi grunted and approached his own boyfriend. 

"Maybe we should settle down first," Akaashi asked and laughed softly to lift the tension but it was too strained to be anything but awkward. 

After all of them had move to the living room, and Lev and Yaku started patching up Tsukishima, Iwaizumi once again interrupted the silence.

"So, what happened? Why is my boyfriend covered in blood?" 

"Covered is a a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Kuroo asked lightly, but quickly shut his mouth when an angry glare was directed towards him.

Akaashi and Bokuto shared a quick glance. "Funny story actually, but we got a hint, well, not really a hint but you now what I mean," the latter started but the former was quick to interrupt him. 

"Kenma was in danger, we checked it out, like expected, it was a trap and somebody shot at us-"

"Shot at you? Did anyone get hit?" Yaku interrupted them, panic laced in his voice and he whipped his head so quickly that an audible crack went through the room. Oikawa cringed.

"No, no, nothing like that," Akaashi reassured the smaller man quickly. "But the guy tried to choke Tsukki and-" He hesitated. "Hit Oikawa?"

Oikawa shook his head. "Shoved me against a wall," he corrected and leaned into his boyfriends side. Lev had given him a wet towel to clean his nose and now he held a pack of frozen broccoli against it to keep the swelling down. "Bastard didn't even give me a chance to shoot him," he grumbled softly but every present person knew that he wouldn't have done that, even if he had gotten the chance.

Oikawa despised violence, hated the smell and sight of blood and was in general a pretty squeamish and whiny person. Nobody was sure why, exactly, he had chosen a career as a gang leader.

Yaku sighed. "Alright, I'll go make tea for Tsukishima. Does he take sugar with it?" the man asked and stood up, and expectantly looked at Akaashi.

"No, he also prefers it bitter."

"Bitter?" the older man asked confused. "I mean, you are what you eat," Kuroo snickered and received a high-five from Bokuto. "So that's why you're an ass?" the blonde replied, voice rough and strained and it definitely sounded painful. Akaashi winced in sympathy.

"I can't believe you can still drag like that even after nearly dying," Lev commented in awe, simultaneously dabbing alcohol over the gash on Tsukishimas side. Oikawa choked on his own spit and sputtered, obviously caught off guard.

Yaku kept standing in the middle of the room for a second, seemingly confused over what just happened but then he shook his head and just exited. 

"Alright, next question, why didn't you tell anyone?" Iwaizumi said then, hard eyes trained on Akaashi, who swallowed thickly. 

"Tsukishima wanted him to come with us in case something happens?" he said, but it sounded more like a question than anything else. 

"He wanted me to take responsibility," Oikawa added and winced softly when he jostled his nose. At least it wasn't broken.

"So, what you're telling me is that you took my boyfriend like some kind of sick insurance?" Iwaizumi asked. "Are you fucking kidding me? He just lost his father, he sucks with guns and is as graceful as a fucking baby giraffe, do you have  _ any _ sense of empathy?" 

"No," croaked Tsukishima and glared at the older man. He tried to say something else but was cut of by his own coughing fit. 

Akaashi gave him a warning look before he glanced back to Iwaizumi. "Look, we're really sorry but we thought-"

"You thought that your friend was in danger and you were well aware of the fact that you are messing with dangerous people here, so you went off without a plan and took Tooru with you, because you expected him to have the same chances of surviving, even though his skills are lacking? Or was it because you thought that his life didn't matter?" Iwaizumi was no longer sounding angry, he spoke completely neutral and even waited for an answer before he continued. "You may have three boyfriends each but I have only one and I would rather kill you than let him get hurt in any way."

Akaashi inhaled deeply and tried to ignore the tears that stung his eyes. He looked over to his boyfriends but none of them dared to look up from the floor.

"That was too harsh," the raven haired man’s head shot up, eyes finding his injured friend with ease. Oikawa had put down the broccoli to speak more clearly, but his voice still sounded nasal due to his swellings. 

"They tried to keep each other safe, they tried to keep  _ me  _ safe, Iwa-chan," the brunette continued. "Tsukishima nearly died, Ke-chan got shot at and the second they heard me screaming, Kuroo came looking for me. It was a mission, missions are always dangerous."

Oikawa smiled and carefully let his hand rest on his boyfriend’s arm. 

"You won't be always there to protect me, so please stop expecting it. I'm not some fragile being that needs be under constant surveillance, you know?"

"I know," Iwaizumi said hesitantly. "It's just-"

"That you love me?" Oikawa finished the sentence. "I know. I love you too, and I don't plan on dying any time soon, so you better prepare for that."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_ He had made a decision and, somehow, it sat heavier in his stomach than the metal in his hand. _

_ Akaashi took a deep breath as his bare feet carefully snuck over the cold floor. The general temperature of the apartment sent shivers down his spine, or maybe it was the anticipation of what he was about to do. _

_ His mother always kept the door open when she slept, she said that it was important for the ventilation of her room, but he was pretty sure that she wanted to avoid him sneaking out during the night.  _

_ He would never do that, he didn't appreciate walking around in the dark, especially not in this part of town, but she wouldn't believe him if he told her anyways, so he just kept his mouth shut, and let her keep telling her pretty, white lies. _

_ Akaashi wondered if this would be his pretty, white lie. It probably wouldn't be, seeing as it was neither pretty, nor white, but letting those absurd thoughts run through his mind, as he carefully pushed the door opened and entered his mothers bedroom, was way better than concentrating on the task on hand. _

_ She slept peacefully, her black hair spread around her head like a halo and her lips were twisted in something that nearly resembled a smile. _

_ The teenager didn't know if he had actually ever seen her smile, or, at least, smile at him. _

_ There was a picture frame on her nightstand and he clenched his teeth when he realized whose portrait it was. Akaashi didn't understand why she liked him, he never understood why she would be excited for his return after long business trips and vacations, that he took without them. _

_ It was probably love. _

_ How pathetic. _

_ Akaashi carefully turned the knife in his hand and tried to find the exact place where his mothers heart, if she even had one, was located before he took one last deep breath and closed his eyes. _

_ Gravity was a magical thing, it made his stab way more powerful than it would have been if he had used strength alone. _

_ The woman jolted awake with a gasp, her panicked eyes unfocused as she looked down onto the steel that was firmly stuck in her chest and Akaashi swore it was the first time that he had seen so much emotion on his mothers face. _

_ Ironically he didn't feel anything at all. _

_ His hands didn't shake when he dialed the numbers, he didn't cry when his best friends arrived, he did not break down when Kuroo screamed at him or when Bokuto started crying or when Tsukishima ran to the bathroom to throw up. _

_ He just stood there, numb eyes trained on his dead mother, his face coated in sprinkles of blood. The only regret he had was making the boys he adored unhappy. _

_ In the end it truly was all his fault. _

_ It was all his fault. _

_ His fault. _

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"This is my fault, I'm sorry," Akaashi said in the evening when he managed to catch Iwaizumi alone in the hallway.

Yaku and Yahaba were cooking, or, in Yahaba’s case, trying to cook. Their boyfriends probably were with them, while Oikawa and Tsukishima were forced to rest in their rooms,  Kuroo and Bokuto played Mario Kart in the living room, and Makoto was out on business, as they later learned.

Iwaizumi sighed and rubbed his cheek with one hand. "No, it's fine," he answered, a small, regretful smile tugging on the corners of his lips. "What I said really was too harsh, I know that you meant no harm," he said, looking at him sheepishly. "So, yeah. I hope this won't change anything between us?"

"You sound like you just came out to me, or slept with my wife or something," Akaashi commented and laughed softly. It was absolutely just so that he could avoid answering, but nobody needed to know that.

They walked together into the kitchen, where Yaku glared at Lev across the counter.

"I won't put noodles in it, alright?" the shorter man huffed and he would probably look pretty intimidating if it wasn't for the chair he currently stood on to reach the upper cupboards.

Akaashi hesitated in the doorway, just watching the scene unfold for a second before he shook his head and tried to suppress the small smile that found its way onto his lips.

They were fine.

No matter how fucked up their lives were, right now, at this moment, they were fine.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [prince-zale on tumblr](http://prince-zale.tumblr.com/) for beta-reading/editing this!


	9. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING FOR TORTURE AS WELL AS IMPLIED CHILD ABUSE
> 
> please remember that this fanfictions rating as well as warnings were chosen for a reason, stay safe kids

Kenmas wrists felt sore where they were tied together with a piece of rope, his elbows  stretched behind his back in a painful way that made it impossible for him to sit straight. 

The blue haired boy had been brought into a big room that looked a lot like a convenience store under construction. It was lined with empty white shelves, and  there was tape and old newspapers lain out where someone had started painting the walls. 

Somehow the space felt eery and abandoned. It wasn't just  the dust that covered everything and was only disrupted by foot prints, or the broken glass that littered the space behind the counter that was located behind Kenmas back, but also for the posters that were hung up everywhere.The dates were from ten years ago.

"So, where are they?" the man that had tied him up asked and leaned forward. His skin was grayed with age and incredibly scarred, his white hair was held back in a ponytail and there were guns and knives stuck into the elastic of his shorts. 

Tsukishima would have cringed by just looking at him. Keeping your weapons in a safe and secure place where they couldn't accidentally hurt anyone, including yourself, was very important.

A hand connected with Kenma’s, making his head jerk to the side and he hadn't been able to react in time so his jaw painfully flew shut, making his teeth cut deep into his cheek. 

"I asked you something," the old man said and raised his eyebrow. He carefully stretched his fingers and his mouth twisted into a satisfied smirk when he could hear the bones crack and fall into place. There was a sick gleam in his eyes and Kenma felt like throwing up, but obviously he couldn't do that right now.

He decided to do something different instead.

He took a deep breath and gathered blood and spit in his mouth just to let it fly through the air into the old mans face. It slid down his skin before it just stuck to it. Kenma was incredibly satisfied with it.

That only lasted for a few second though because the next moment pain blossomed in his abdomen, making him gasp for air and bend forward even more, which strained his shoulders and arms. There was an uncomfortable warmth gathering in the pit of his stomach and he could feel the urge to throw up once again. He barely managed to swallow the bile back down.

When he looked up, tears made his vision blurry, but instead of breaking down, instead of just giving in to the desperation and pain he felt, he just smiled. 

There was blood staining his white teeth red and it trickled down his lips and slid down his chin but he couldn't concentrate on that right now, all he felt was hate and the need to protect.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he bit back in a voice that was so sickeningly sweet that it could only suggest an obvious lie and the man above him scowled in irritation and for some reason it just spurred Kenma on to keep doing what he was doing.

"They knew that we were coming. How?" was the mans next question. His hand reached down and roughly grabbed a fistful of dyed hair to make the younger one look up.

"You're underestimating them," Kenma said, venom dripping from every word. "They are so much stronger than you will ever be. You can't even touch them."

he saw the fist coming this time so he prepared for the impact.

Rings cut into the soft flesh above his cheekbones and he had to bite his lip to hold back the strangled cry that ripped itself from his throat. Pain coarsed through his body and his hands were shaking where they were tied behind his back, but all he could do was press them against the back of the chair in an attempt to keep himself steady.

"That wasn't my question, bitch." 

Kenma laughed. "But it's the only answer you'll need."

 

* * *

 

 

 

Iwaizumi’s fingers carefully traced the dark purple bruise spread over Oikawa’s nose and cheeks. He could feel where the skin started to swell and small bumps under his fingertips made him grit his teeth in anger and worry. He wanted to hurt whoever did this, he wanted to tear them apart, like they had done with his boyfriend, and even more.

He wanted them to suffer.

"Hajime," Tooru whispered and carefully reached up to take his Iwaizumi’s hand into his own. "It's okay. It barely hurts anyways." 

Oikawa had volunteered to take the night shift and therefore he had grabbed the book he was currently reading from the nightstand and curled up on the couch with a fluffy blanket wrapped around him.

Iwaizumi couldn't fall asleep, so he decided to offer his place in bed to Yaku and go sit with his boyfriend in the living room. So far they hadn't done much talking, they had just sat together in silence, waiting, expecting.

"That's a lie and we both know it," the raven haired male said annoyed, but his brows furrowed in worry told a different story. "I promise, if I ever catch that bastard I will make sure that he will never be able to walk again, nevertheless push anyone into a  _ fucking wall. _ " 

The brunette laughed softly and carefully untangled himself from the blankets just to throw one of his legs over his boyfriend’s lap to straddle the other man’s hips. His hands reached up to Iwaizumi’s cheek and he could feel fingers digging into his hips as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against the other’s.

"That's rather extreme, don't you think?" he mused and playfully rocked their bodies from one side to the other.

"Is that so?" Iwaizumi hummed and let his hands slid lower and lower until they dipped under the hem of the old, worn out shirt that Oikawa used as a pajama and let his nails drag over the pale skin there.

"The others are just a room away, they could hear us," Oikawa whispered, his voice sounded out of breath even though they hadn't even done anything yet. "The door’s open, anyone could walk in."

The hands around his hips tightened and dragged him closer. 

"So what if they do?" Iwaizumi asked and pushed his lips against his boyfriends. 

The brunette responded immediately and arched his back in an attempt to get even closer to the other male. His arms wrapped around Iwaizumi’s neck and pulled him towards himself. 

Fingers dipped into the waistband of his boxers and a breathless laugh escaped him but was muffled the second it left his throat due to wanting lips swallowing them up.

Hajime’s teeth clicked against Oikawa’s and his hands fully groped his boyfriend’s bottom now, using it to push them closer together until there was no space between their bodies anymore. Everything was a blur of warmth and the smacking sound of spit and flesh colliding against each other. There was a needy whine but they weren't sure who exactly had made the sound and didn't bother to pull back and find out.

"Hajime," Tooru exhaled when they parted for a second to catch their breath.

"Tooru," Hajime answered, wide eyes trying to find his boyfriend’s. There was so much more than desire in the way they reached for each other. There was the want to be closer, to never let go of one another. There was desperate searching for safety, for something familiar in this mess they were in.

But the most prominent thing out of all these things was unconditional love.

The way they kissed was comparable to a  _ I would die for you  _ and these roaming hands felt like a  _ I would kill for you  _ but the way they looked at each other meant  _ I won't ever leave you. _

"We will get through this," Iwaizumi whispered, eyes searching for a reaction, for a message in his lovers face. "I swear, we will kill everyone that's in our way and then we can leave, alright? We can just leave, nobody would find us."

"Are you proposing to me, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa laughed, but was met with a completely serious response.

"Yes."

"Wait, really?" the brunette sputtered. His smile fell from his face to be replaced by a mask of shock and surprise. "Like, marriage-proposing? Spending the rest of our lives together?"

Iwaizumi seemed to be growing nervous.

"There's a ring in the pocket of my pants that's on the floor of our bedroom," he said slowly, his bright eyes shone in the dim light and his face appeared to be younger than usual due to his frown smoothing out. "I wanted to propose to you the night we got shot at."

"Hajime," Tooru sighed and his hands tightened around his boyfriend’s neck. There were tears gathering in his eyes but he just tried blinking them away. "That's illegal," he said and laughed softly as liquid dropped from his cheeks.

"We murder people, Tooru," Iwaizumi deadpanned, but couldn't keep his neutral expression up for long, as a huge grin split his face in two. "So, is that a yes?"

"Of course it is, idiot," the brunette sobbed and buried his face in his boyfriend’s T-Shirt.

"Oi, Trashkawa, crying is pretty pathetic," Iwaizumi said fondly and pressed his lips against the other’s temple. Warmth radiated between their bodies and he couldn't help but laugh as happiness and love pooled in his stomach.

"You're such a brute, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa added to their usual banter but right now it felt different. There was too much adoration in the way they spoke, too much familiarity in the way they touched. 

"I love you, you know?"

"Good.," Oikawa paused for a second, "'Cause I love you way too much."

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kenma didn't want to look down. The smell of iron already made him feel sick enough.

"You gonna talk now?" the old man laughed but he didn't seemed to mind the silence the blue haired man kept, it just gave him more reasons to destroy and hurt.

There was an erratic dripping of liquid that echoed in the room and the younger man couldn't help but be curious about the state his fingers were in. Kenma knew that the other man had only ripped out a few finger nails but the stinging and burning that crawled up his arms into his shoulders and his chest made it seem so much worse.

Kenma knew that something bad would happen when the stranger started undoing the ropes that held his arms together and reattached them to the front, so he wasn't that surprised about the old pliers that were suddenly dropped onto the floor next to him.

There were also needles and small knives, which unsettled him way more at the time.

But when the first nail was ripped from his finger in a quick motion he decided to change his mind. It burned and hurt and his vision blanked out as a strangled yelp escaped his throat. There was pressure and tension building up in his arms when his hands started shaking more than they had ever before. 

That had been roughly an hour ago. Now that the burn had come to a constant buzz in the back of his pain-dazed mind he was able to push it down a bit, he was starting to hear the words the man through at him again.

"You know, my friend had a, how would you say?" The geezer paused for a second and licked his yellowing teeth before his cracked lips pulled his face back into that disgusting smirk Kenma loathed so much. "An encounter, maybe." 

The younger mans eyes widened as he realized what exactly that meant.

"He failed though, only strangled that blonde kid for a bit and didn't even land a hit on the pretty one. What was his name again? Keji?" A throaty laugh rung through the empty convenience store, making it seem more abandoned than it already was.

Kenma gritted his teeth.

"Don't worry though," continued the older man and lifted Kenmas next finger. "There are more of us and we will find them again, even if you stay silent."

His voice was soft and warm and edged into a kindness that the blue haired man would have probably fallen for if it weren't for his current circumstances. Right now it made him want to rip the others tongue out.

"I promise that if you'll tell us where they are we won't hurt them as much," the old man said, the plies started digging into Kenmas left pointer finger and he couldn't help but wince in the anticipation of pain.

"That's a lie," he croaked out and squeezed his eyes shut. "You want to kill them, you bastard!"

"Oh, darling. You have no idea what we're actually doing, have you?"

Maybe Kenma would have reacted to the statement with surprise, or maybe disbelieve. It was too bad that his own screams droned out everything else.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Iwaizumi Makoto’s mouth was set in a straight line as she lied out picture after picture on the kitchen table.

"The Crows are back," she just said and pointed at the men and the woman that were portrayed. There was a pretty one with silver hair that seemed to stay close to a well built one at all times. Another one was an incredibly tall one with long hair that was tied back into a loose bun and a gentle, but unsure smile on his lips.

Akaashi scoffed at the next picture. A man that seemed to make up for his height with his ridiculous hair and another one that didn't seem to have much hair to begin with were constantly articulating wildly with their hands and hovered around the only woman of the team, who seemed to be pretty done with the duo.

"These guys are supposed to chase us?" Kuroo asked incredulous.

Oikawa narrowed his eyes and pointed at a picture with the silver haired one. "I went to school with him," he stated quietly. "Sugawara Koushi if I'm not mistaken, and this-" He pointed at the muscular one. "-is probably his boyfriend."

He hummed softly. "They were always really nice, I have no idea why they would want to kill us to be honest." 

Makoto sighed. "I could have told you that too, if you would have just let me talk. The Crows are back and I am pretty certain that they aren't involved in any of this."

"Why did you bring them up then?" Iwaizumi asked and shifted in his seat.

Akaashi wondered where the others were. Tsukishima was probably still asleep so Bokuto might've been with him, and Yaku and Lev took on the roles as nurses around the house so that would explain their absence. Where were Kyoutani and Yahaba though?

"I want them as allies." The womans eyes were determined and Akaashi felt the dominance rolling of her in waves. Her statement had not been a suggestion or a wish, it had been an order.

Iwaizumi didn't seem too pleased with that.

"I don't think that dragging even more people in this would be to our advantage," he said, Akaashi could see his arms move when he took hold of his boyfriends hand. They probably thought they were subtle. 

"The Crows aren't a gang like yours or even mine, Hajime. They are thieves." The people around the table perked up at that. Akaashi glanced at Kuroo but the other man just shrugged. They had never heard of them to be honest so they weren't sure how to judge the situation.

"Why would we need thieves?" Oikawa asked curiously and leaned forward. 

"I'm glad you asked, Tooru," Makoto answered simply, a smile dancing around her lips. "Kiyoko Shimizu is the one of the best information brokers in the entire country, she used to work alone but now she works with he Crows, a shame if you ask me, there are quite a few things I'd like to know. Sugawara Koushi is a blackmailer, he has something against pretty much everyone, politicians, celebrities, you name it. I met Sawamura Daichi before, he's a great leader with a strong will and incredible discipline. Well, for Tanaka Ryuunosuke and Nishinoya Yuu-"

She trailed off. 

"I guess, they're good on breaking and stealing stuff? I'm not really sure."

"They sound trustworthy," Akaashi deadpanned.

"Exactly," nodded Makoto enthusiastically, completely missing his sarcasm. "And that's why they will arrive here in around-" She glanced at her phone. "Thirty minutes."

"Wait, what?" screeched Tooru. 

"I thought you wanted us to consider it?" Iwaizumi sighed softly. Contrary to his boyfriend, he had stopped expecting his aunt’s suggestions to be anything but already made up plans. Maybe it had to do with her being, and leading, an actual gang and therefore having to think things through all on her own -Hajime was fairly sure that she was just a menace.

"Wait, so they are on their way?" Kuroo asked flabbergasted. "Are you sure that we can trust them? We don't have time to make any preparations now." 

Akaashi sighed and let his head rest against the cool tabletop. He was a good person and definitely did not deserve to be around people like this.

"Do you think they know who took Kenma?" he asked, voice muffled against the solid wood.

"Yeah," Makoto answered, and she sounded so certain that the raven haired boy couldn't help but believe her. Kenma had been missing for two days already and they had no idea if he was even alive anymore. It was eating him up, the constant worrying and what-if scenarios filling his head.

He was sure that Kuroo felt the same, if not even worse, but the older man had always been better at keeping his cool and concentrating on the positive aspects, as well as being rational and making plans that would help them resolve any situation.

Akaashi admired him for that.

Kuroo was funny and childish in all the right ways but when it came down to it he was reliable and strong, nothing short of a leader.

"I'll go get my gun." He stood up and left the room. Being careful never hurt anyone.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kenma couldn't breathe.

Every inhale felt like swallowing sand and water, clogging up his airways and lungs and he was so desperate and frustrated that tears welled up in his eyes, making his bloody cheeks feel sore.

The man had finally left, but he had taken the pliers and knives with him, as well as Kenmas pride and hope.

"I'm so sorry," he sobbed into the gloomy dimness of the abandoned convenience store. "I'm so so sorry."

There was blood on the floor and dirty, ripped nails bathed in it. The iron smell did not leave when the young man closed his eyes and it did not let him rest even though his body was wary and exhausted and all he wanted to do was fall asleep and, preferably, never wake up again.

How would he be able to face his friends ever again?

_ Traitor _ ,  screamed his mind and he couldn't help but agree with it.

There was only a certain amount of pain and agony a body could take before it threw all its morals over board and obeyed to every order directed at it and frankly, Kenma had reached that point way earlier than he'd like to admit, but he had still kept his mouth shut. He had bitten his lips until they broke, just so there wouldn't be any sounds spilling from them but when his shirt was covered in red and his head felt dizzy and so so tired and-

No.

There was nothing that could excuse his actions.

"I'm sorry."

 

* * *

 

 

 

Sugawara Koushi looked down at the file in his hands and frowned.

He wasn't sure if the case they had taken agreed with him. There were so many different factors and people to consider and frankly he had never worked on something like this before.

"Daichi," he asked softly and turned to the man in the drivers seat. "Are you really sure we should get involved in this? It's a complete mess."

The dark haired man hummed. "I thought you knew this Oikawa person? Also we'll only have to sell some information. We can go in, get the money and leave."

"Is that so?" Sugawara didn't seem too convinced. 

He gently turned a page and took out a picture that had been bothering him since Kiyoko had gotten it but he wasn't able to point out what exactly was wrong with it. There was just something off.

Portrayed was a child and man, they were obviously related with their sharp, narrow eyes and those dark curls that framed both of their faces. The kid seemed to smile at something the adult had said but somehow it seemed forced, somehow the grip on his dads arm was just a bit too tight. Something was  _ wrong,  _ but Suga didn't know what and it drove him crazy.

"That's Akaashi, right? With his father?" Daichi glanced at the file before directing his gaze back to the road. 

"Yeah, Kiyoko said it was really important but I'm not sure how." 

"Akaashi is a member of the owls, right?" A short nod. 

The ashen haired boy bit his lips.  "This is going to be messy."

The apartment complex Aoba Johsai currently stayed in was a tall building in a high end neighborhood and Sugawara whistled quietly when he exited the car.

"Not bad, maybe we should join a gang after all, Daichi," he laughed.

"Suga no," Daichi answered as he rounded the car to stand next to his boyfriend. "We had this before, alright? No gangs, Yakuza, mafia or mobs."

"Aw, you're no fun, Dai-chan," the ashen haired man laughed and started walking towards the door. 

A big elevator took them up to the fourth floor where a tall woman already awaited them in the doorstep of the apartment. Her raven hair was tied back in a messy bun and she would have probably looked still intimidating in the way she was looming above the newcomers, without the gun strapped around her waist.

"Ah, Sawamura-kun, Sugawara-kun, it's nice to have you," she exclaimed and ushered them inside. "I'm sorry about the mess but we are currently housing ten people, you see?"

This didn't feel professional at all.

Suga just smiled politely at her. "It's really no problem, Iwaizumi-san." 

They were lead into a big kitchen that was already filled with people and suddenly Sugawara didn't feel as safe with only his daggers, as before. 

"May I introduce you," Makoto said cheerily and pointed at a slightly shorter guy that was currently glaring at them. "This is my nephew Iwaizumi Hajime, boyfriend of-" She pointed at another man who looked kinda familiar to Suga. "Oikawa Tooru, leader of Aoba Johsai. Then these are Kuroo Tetsurou and Akaashi Keji-" She said next and pointed at the two men currently seated at the big kitchen table. "-two fifths of the owls. Guys, these are Sugawara Koushi and Sawamura Daichi."

Sugas eyes widened. 

"You didn't tell us that the owls would be involved," he said and turned to the woman. "We did not agree with that."

Makoto blinked confused. "I gave you all the names, I just assumed you would know?"

Daichi frowned and Sugawara pretended not to notice the way his hand leaned closer to the gun hidden under his jacket. "We didn't know," he said carefully. "And we are not that keen of working with them to be honest."

"Why's that?" Kuroo asked and smirked up at them, but there was caution and danger flashing behind his eyes that could not be mistaken for anything but the ability to fight at any given moment.

"You're dangerous," Suga answered bluntly. He had known that this job was a mistake, why didn't he say anything? 

A surprised laugh escaped Oikawas lips. "Is that really your only concern?" he asked incredulously. "Because you were fully aware that you made a deal with a gang right? And that you were hired to find hitmen and a kidnapped person?"

"Yes," Daichi frowned. "But that's the problem."

There was a short silence until Sugawara decided to dig up the picture that he had looked at earlier and put it on the table for everyone to see. 

"We suspected the owls. All leads we had came back to you and if somebody had actually told us that you were the ones targeted then maybe we would have followed another route," Sugawara huffed.

Akaashi carefully took the picture into his hands and held it close to his face.

"Who's that?" he asked and pointed at the little boy. "That's my father, older than when I last saw him but I don't think I've ever seen the kid."

"Wait, that's not you?" Sugawara asked confused. 

"No, it's not."

 

* * *

 

 

 

It stung.

That was the first thing that came to Kenma’s mind when he awoke from his unconsciousness. 

He was still tied up on that chair that he would probably feel integrated into his skin until the day he died and he was still in that damned store with those expired posters and never filled in shelves and he was still hurting all over but somehow something had changed.

There was no longer the monotone dripping of blood against tiles and the tears that had flown earlier only left a bitter taste and swollen eyes behind.

How long had he been asleep? Had it been only minutes or maybe hours? His feeling of time had been dwindling since he had been knocked out back in Hinata’s flat but, now, he really had no idea what the time was, or even the date.

He hissed as the stinging sensation that had woken him up aroused once more and he pulled his hands away out of reflex in an attempt of getting away from the pain that spread through his arm.

"You have to hold still."

Kenma froze and slowly he casted his glance downwards to come face to face with big, brown eyes that stared at him expectantly.

"Sorry?" Kenma said, even though his throat hurt with every breath. Why the hell was he apologizing by the way?

"Where am I?" The boy shrugged and continued to dip a rag, that seemed to be drenched in alcohol, over the bloody ends of his fingers.

Kenma sighed. "Can you untie these ropes for me?" he then asked, lifting his shackled wrists but once again the boy just shook his head and frowned at he blood that tinted his jeans red.

"Why not?"

"Dad would hurt me," the boys voice was soft and sounded bored, but Kenma was fairly sure that it was just his general tone of voice. There was no way in hell a kid would be this unaffected by bandaging up some stranger that was covered in bruises an cuts. Right?

The blue haired man shifted slightly in his seat. "Was your father the man who was here with me?" he then asked. The stranger had been way too old for a kid this young but he just wanted to make sure.

"Samo-san? No, my dad was out the whole day. He said he wanted to find some more people like Samo-san," the boy said and carefully pushed a strand of his curly hair behind his ear.

He was somehow familiar..

"What's your name?" Kenma asked, but he already knew the answer.

"Akaashi Hiro."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Massive thanks to [Zale ](http://prince-zale.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for editing this chapter!


	10. Ten

Akaashi’s hands shook when he carefully picked up the picture and held it closer to his eyes.

That boy looked so much like him but it couldn’t actually _be_ him. His father had never been around much, not even when he was that young, so there wasn’t really an opportunity where a picture like this could have been taken.

“Who the hell is this?” he asked, pretending that his voice didn’t shake, Kuroo tensed beside him. “Akaashi, maybe we shouldn’t-”

“No! Who the hell is this? Why is he with my dad?” A mix of anger and irrational jealousy bubbled in the young mans chest but he tried his best to ignore it. This was stupid. This was completely and utterly stupid and childish and he should not be behaving this way right now, especially not in front of strangers.

Sugawara and Daichi exchanged cautious looks. “His son, according to Kiyoko and we trust her,” the older out of the two explained carefully. “He had him with his wife of twenty years, Akaashi Hana.”

Akaashi flinched.

“My moms name was Yuki.”

“Keji,” Kuroo placed his hand on his boyfriend's shoulder but the younger man just pushed it away.

“My moms name was Yuki!” he repeated louder. “She and my dad never married, this isn’t possible.”

Sugawara’s eyes widened after hearing those words and sudden realization bathed his face in shock. “Oh god,” he whispered softly. “No.”

Daichi’s concerned eyes flickered towards his boyfriend but the older man just stared right at Akaashi. “Are you sure that Yuki is your mother?” he asked carefully. Every person present froze.

_The truth is like a puzzle, it’s made of different components and while you may be able to see what it’s supposed to portray, you’ll never get the full picture until every single piece is in its place._

“What do you mean?”, Akaashi’s voice was shaking, even he himself wasn’t sure if it was due to the immense anger that flooded his veins or because of the fact that he could no longer say that he knew what the answer to Suga’s question was.

Kuroo opened his mouth as to say something but quickly shut it again, uncertainty and hesitation filled his face with worry, he reached for his boyfriend but pulled his hand away the last second. This couldn’t be happening.

_See, the truth is harsh and unforgiving, you don’t get to choose if you want to accept it or not, because at the end of the day you can’t live in ignorance. Trying to do so would do more harm the truth could._

“She has to be,” Akaashi answered, but it lacked convincingness. “She raised me.”

“Did you ever see your birth certificate? Anything like that?” Daichi asked, warmth and pity tainted his professionality in an ugly shade of empathy. Akaashi despised it.

“She raised me,” he repeated stubbornly, his dark eyes were cold and challenging, like he dared the other man to say something else, like he wanted him to say something stupid just so that the younger one could snap. “She was the only parent that I even remotely knew. She was there when I was born, just how I was there when she died. She was the one who gave birth to me and I was the one who killed her, it’s that easy.”

Sugawara exhaled shakingly. He held his phone in an iron grip, Akaashi wasn’t sure if he had held it the entire time or if he pulled it out during their conversation. He decided that he did not care.

“Kiyoko sent your birth certificate,” he explained slowly. “Akaashi, you didn’t kill your mother.”

_Once you come to realize what your truth truly is, you no longer will be able to bathe in blissful unawareness. You have to realize that it won’t free you, it’ll just change your way of thinking._

When Keji was still in elementary school he used to visit the nearby park as often as he could. It wasn’t pretty, not tidy or well cared for but it was silent and he adored the calmness that surrounded him between wild flowers and dead trees.

He had always wondered if he could get lost in there, wondered if, when he just kept on walking, he would at some point be reaching a point where the tree crowns would be thick enough to swallow up any light that dared to try to break through their emerald leaves.

To be honest, he never really walked far into that park, he never felt the motivation to get lost, never felt like going on an adventure.

He liked the calmness, he liked the gentle wind that stroked his cheeks and tangled his curly hair, he did not need more than that.

All the other kids wanted new things, see new things, Akaashi liked routine and hated change.

So, how the hell was he supposed to react when someone told him that he had lived a lie for the last twenty five years of his life.

“Keji?” Kuroo’s worried voice tore him out of his thoughts, then there were frantic hands gripping his shoulders, a palm wiping wetness from his face.

“Keji, you need to breath, okay? Breath with me!”

Akaashi tried grabbing his boyfriend's hand but missed, he tried again, tried breathing in at the same time but only a high pitched, panicked sound escaped his lips.

‘When you feel like you can’t breath, you need to exhale.’

The voice of his old school counselor rung through his head and he tried to, he really did, but it was hard to think rationally when your throat was closing up and your brain was clouded with panic.

_Do you know what fate is?_

Somebody tried talking to him but the blood rushing through his ears, his own, frantic lungs trying to suck in air, were way too loud to understand anything.

Then a stinging sensations. Keji inhaled sharply and numbly reached up to where his cheek was already beginning to fill with blood. Sugawara rubbed his hand, seemingly pleased.

“And now just continue breathing normally, okay?” he asked and smiled warily. It was only now that Akaashi realized that the ashen haired man had indeed just slapped him to prevent him from falling even more into his panic.

Well, that was indeed interesting.

His breathing hadn’t returned to a normal pace quite yet, but he could think again, which was enough right now.

“I didn’t kill my mother?” he asked, but it sounded like a statement, there was wonder in his eyes, making him look younger than before and Sugawara wondered if this was the expression that the other should have worn when he was this age.

Wondered if this man would have looked even more beautiful if it wasn’t for the horrible things life did to him.

“Keji,” Kuroo murmured softly, carefully tugging the younger male into his arms until Akaashi was pressed flush against his chest and tugging his nose into his boyfriend’s neck.

“I didn’t kill her,” Akaashi whispered again, there was a wet spot forming on Kuroo’s shirt but he didn’t care about that. A smile was spreading over his face.

“I know,” he answered, not mentioning the fact that Akaashi had still killed somebody. It wasn’t his place to do so anyways.

_Maybe fate is just another word for realization._

 

* * *

 

  


Kenma kept pulling on his restraints, ignoring the pain that shot through his arms, and he couldn’t help the triumphant smile that spread over his lips when he felt something snap.

Hiro watched him silently, and the blue haired man probably would have been unsettled by the unmoving gaze when this would have been under different circumstances but right now all he could think about was the plastic that no longer cut into his wrists and the fact that he was one step closer to returning home.

He missed Shouyo, he wondered if the kid was worried about him. Knowing him he probably was and Kenma couldn’t help the guilt that churned in his gut.

Carefully he rose to his feet, ignoring the pain and needles that shot through his legs, and with his numb feet barely carrying him he walked closer to Hiro who just stared at him with emotionless eyes.

“Come on, kid,” he mumbled. “We’re getting out of here.”

The young Akaashi just raised one of his eyebrows, as if he was asking how stupid the man really was.

“We can’t escape,” he stated simply but Kenma had noticed the slight hitch in his voice, signalling excitement, or maybe hope, sparking through the young boy.

“We can,” Kenma said confidently. “And we will, I know people who will help us, alright? But I need you to help me right now and I need you to trust me, do you understand?”

The boy hesitated before nodding and carefully standing up as well. “Dad’s gonna kill us both when he finds out,” he whispered but it didn’t seem like that fact scared him. He was just stating it, was just saying it on a passing note, before he turned around and steered towards a staff door behind the counter.

“You need a phone, right?”

He rummaged around under the counter before he presented Kenma a beat-up smartphone. “This one still works but you need to hurry up. Samo-san usually returns around five, so we need to be gone soon.”

Kenma nodded gratefully and quickly took the phone before punching in the familiar number. He couldn’t help but panic when nobody picked up after the first few rings but then a disgruntled voice answered.

_“What?”_

“Kei? It’s me, Kenma, you need to track me right now, I have no idea where I am but I found out who’s chasing us,” he said hurriedly, Hiro watched him with furrowed eyebrows. Kenma felt so sorry for him, the kid deserved so much better.

There was rustling on the other side of the line and somebody asked something but Kenma wasn’t able to make out the words.

_“Kenma?”_

“Koutaro! Is Kei tracking me?” Kenma asked quickly and carefully started moving towards the backroom door where he suspected an exit. Hiro followed him but still seemed a little hesitant about the entire thing.

 _“Yeah, he is. But holy shit, where have you been? Are you okay? Oh god, I gotta get ‘kaashi and Kuroo,”_ he rambled and apparently tried to stand up but Kei held him back with an annoyed _‘Bokuto, I still need to track him’_.

“Is there an exit that’s not locked or something?” Kenma asked Hiro, who nodded and quickly took the lead.

 _“Huh?”_ Bokuto asked confused. Kenma sighed. “That’s what I meant when I said I found out who did all this. There’s this kid, I think he’s Akaashi’s brother or something and his dad is around too, apparently.”

_“Woah, what?”_

“I know. We’re in some kind of unfinished convenience store right now but we’re getting out of here before this guy returns, so you have to keep tracking me, okay?”

 _“Yeah, sure, I’m gonna give you back to Tsukki and get the others ready for the mission, but hey, Kenma?”_ Bokuto’s serious voice unsettled and calmed Kenma at the same time.

“Yes?”

_“Are you okay?”_

“I’ve been better, but I’ll survive, okay?” he answered truthfully and watched the younger Akaashi open a heavy looking door. The young man had to squeeze his eyes shut when the first rays of natural light hit him but he quickly grew used to it and couldn’t help but exhale in relieve. “I’m gonna be fine. We all will be.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Akaashi, we know where Kenma is.”

Akaashi’s head snapped up from where he was still looking at the picture and for a second he had problems with processing the information that just had been presented to him but when he finally caught up his eyes lit up.

“Are you serious?” Kuroo asked, beating his younger boyfriend to it.

“Yes, he got a phone somehow and said that he’s on the move. Tsukki’s tracking him right now but we should really get moving.” Kuroo nodded absently, as if it was just for himself, just to convince himself that Kenma was indeed alive and finally in reach again.

“Let’s go then,” Akaashi mumbled and stood up, casting a last glance at the two strangers at the kitchen before he rushed past them towards the front door.

“I’m not sure, if you should let him go actually,” Suga mentioned hesitantly. He was well aware that their services were no longer needed, especially now that they didn’t actually have any kind of valuable information, but, somehow he felt the urge to stay and protect those kids. He had a feeling that all of this would blow up even more than it did already.

Kuroo chuckled drily. “If you think that we could stop him then you’re wrong.”

And with those last words he followed his boyfriend, and dragged Bokuto with him as well. Tsukishima was already waiting next to Keji, a suitcase with a cable connecting to his headphones, clutched in his hand.

“Kenma is trying to find some kind of road sign or bus station to help us determine his exact position. So far I only know that he’s somewhere in the unfinished industrial district and that place is incredibly confusing considering that they never actually finished the streets,” Tsukishima said and fixed his glasses absently.

“Do you have everything?” Kuroo asked while pulling his shoes on hurriedly. “The guns?” Bokuto nodded. “And everything else is still in the car?” Akaashi shrugged, his hands shook. “Has too, I guess.”

“Wait,” a familiar voice rung behind them. “Let me go with you.”

Oikawa stood at the end of the hallway, hastily stuffing his gun into his belt while simulately putting on his jacket.

“I owe you after all, right?” he smiled grimly and carefully took a step towards them. “We have no idea who exactly we’re messing with so an additional gun should be good. Also you can’t fit two people in that car of yours, you need another one.”

“I guess so?” Bokuto answered hesitantly. “Maybe it’d be for the best.”

“Absolutely not,” the group looked up as yet another voice disturbed their leave. Iwaizumi stood in the kitchen door, looking livid. “Tooru, you’re staying here, it’s not like you could kill anyone anyways. I’ll go with them.”

“Hajime,” Oikawa's voice trailed off, as if he was rethinking what exactly he had wanted to say. “No, please. I have to do this myself, you can’t continue fighting my fights!”

“Can you, like, hurry up with the lovers quarrel? We’re in kind of a hurry, you know,” Kuroo exhaled as he stood up and threw on his own jacket.

“I’m going,” Oikawa said determinedly, challenging eyes directed on his fianceé. “So am I,” Iwaizumi bit back. “I don’t feel like losing you today.”

“Aw, so caring Iwa-chan,” the taller man teased lightly but his voice was soft and eyes fond.

“Great, I’m gonna feel sick during the ride now,” Tsukishima sighed and finally opened up the door. “Kenma said he found an opened bakery, god knows why’s that there but it’s definitely something to look out for, let’s go.”

Akaashi vaguely wondered what they looked like that moment. Six unusually tall man, obviously armed hurrying down the street in an high end neighbourhood. Somebody probably had already alerted the police, not something he was looking forward too.

 

* * *

 

  


“So, what now,” Hiro asked as they run into yet another deadend.

“My friends are on their way, they’ll pick us up in no time,” Kenma answered, his fingers were throbbing but he couldn’t help but squeeze the phone as tight as he could, terrified of losing it. “We just have to stay away from the main roads for a bit, okay?”

Somehow this whole thing turned out to be a lot scarier than Kenma expected it to be. He thought everything would just turn out fine once he left the hellhole, but now he was standing somewhere in an unfamiliar territory and the only connection to actual freedom he had was a slowly dying phone that probably could get tracked by the guys that chased them.

He took a deep breath.

This wasn’t the right time for those thoughts.

But it was kinda hard not to panic when every ally looked the same and there was no street sign in sight, it was hard to concentrate on the task on hand when there were people with guns and murder intentions chasing him and all he had was a small child, a dying phone and a pair of useless hands.

He never wasted a thought on what death would be like but now he regretted that. It was terrifying to know that today may be his last day and there were so many things left unfinished.

He should have expected that way earlier considering his line of work but somehow it was always such a faraway thing, such a _this only happens to other people._ A _this could never happen to me._

“I’m a good person and I do not deserve this,” Kenma mumbled under his breath, Hiro looked at him curiously but apparently decided not to ask.

“Where are you?” the young man then asked into the phone, he hadn’t heard anything except for rustling and muffled voices for a while and it started to unsettle him.

 _“Just entering the industrial district,”_ Tsukishima answered. “ _I could only determine your position to this stage so we’re trying to find the bakery you spoke of now. Did you find some kind of sign?”_ Somebody spoke in the background but Kenma had no idea who it was. _“Bokuto asks if you’re save and if that kid is still with you.”_

Kenma looked to his side where Hiro stood, unblinkingly staring at him. It was pretty freaky but the man was far too gone to care anymore. “Yeah, we’re both in some kind of ally, trying to stay away from the main road. Should we come out?”

The thought didn’t sit well with him, especially that this Samo guy had to have noticed their escape by now and was surely looking for them.

Tsukishima hesitated.

“It would make finding you easier,” he said vaguely, not determining if he meant them or the others. “Maybe it would be for the best?” Kenma wasn’t sure if he had ever heard the stubborn blonde sound this ambivalent.

“We’re gonna head to the street now, okay?” Hiros eyes snapped towards him, confusion and betrayal running deep.

“They’re gonna pick us up there,” Kenma added to soothe the young boy. “They can’t find us back here.”

Young Akaashi still didn’t seem to fully trust him but nodded nonetheless. It was kinda unsettling how less the boy seemed to care, he just walked along no matter if he thought if it was for the better or not. He just ran along, barely speaking.

Kenma guessed that he hadn’t learnt it any other way.

“Okay then,” Kenma exhaled before he took a deep breath and clutched the boys hand. He tugged both of them back through the maze of brick walls and empty dumpsters, that they had walked through once before, and tried to orientate himself enough to find back to the bakery they had seen earlier.

Finding a bakery here was incredibly odd, Kenma wasn’t fully sure if it actually was a real, legit bakery or just some kind of coverup, but that didn’t matter right now.

Their safety was the only thing that they had to think about right now. Survival was probably more fitting but the man found it just a tick too pessimistic. He had to think positive right now, if not for him, for Hiro.

Kenma sighed as they ran into yet another dead end, he was convinced that they had come from here somewhere but the more they walked around the more lost they seemed to get.

“Kei, I can’t find the mainroad right now,” he admitted into the phone speaker, just to be distracted by a small tug on his hand.

“Left,” Hiro deadpanned.

“Excuse me?”

“We have to go left, the straight, then left, right and then jump over that one wall again,” the boy explained to him slowly. Kenma did not appreciate how incredibly stupid this kid could make him feel .

Still he lifted the phone higher and interrupted the rambling blonde on the other end. “Nevermind, Hiro knows the way.”

The roads still didn’t look familiar but sure enough their journey led right back to the mainroad, which they had worked so hard on avoiding before.

Kenma suddenly felt very exposed.

Here they were, running from an enemy that just didn’t make any sense, in a part of town that neither of them really knew, waiting for saviours that were shaking in fear without any kind of orientation.

The man honestly had no idea how they were still alive.

“We’re at the main road,” Kenma told Tsukishima, who seemed to be talking to someone. He fidgeted nervously with his shirt before he added a small “Please hurry up.” before lowering the phone once again.

The power was slowly running out and with every percent that dropped Kenmas hopes did as well. Once it stopped working they would be completely on their own. Completely blind in this maze of blank walls and narrow alleys.

“We found the bakery,” Tsukishima exhaled, his voice straining with effort he had to put into staying concentrated. This past week had taken a toll on all of them, wearing them down and making them feel exhausted and week.

Kenma was more than ready for it to end, though he was not naive enough to believe that it would just be fine once they entered the car.

“Oh my god, we can see you, we’re right down the street. Just stay where you are and we’ll pick you up. Thank god.”

Tsukishima had barely finished his sentence when the first bullet whirred through the air.


	11. Eleven

Tsukishima remembered what it felt like to suffocate.

At first there are those desperate coughs, that get stuck in your throat, that try to push whatever's stopping you from breathing, away.

Then there’s realization, cold and bitter, when your body finally understands that there’s no use fighting. The dizziness sets in, your limbs feel weak and unmoveable. You might be able to think especially clear in that moment, you might realize that this is what it feels like to slowly slip into that space between the living and the dead. Some describe this as seeing your life flash in front of you eyes.

The last time this happened, Tsukishima saw Akaashi sitting on their couch, with his knees tugged against his chest and a soft smile settling on his relaxed features. He saw Bokuto screaming in triumph, with his hands balled into fists and his eyes crinkling as they shut tightly. He saw Kuroo tapping his pencil against the table on which books and papers were spread across messily.

The last time he thought he was dying, he couldn’t help thinking about all of the things he had. All of the things he had.

Now the pain in his chest was different.

It was a sharp tug, like a knife being driven into flesh and the ringing in his ears refused to stop.

There was blood spreading over torn fabric and confused eyes looking up to meet his.

Kenmas hand was dripping with red as he tried understanding what just happened. His golden eyes widened in shock when Hiro suddenly started screaming.

That scream was what brought them all back to reality.

Tires shrieked as the car came to a violent halt and without another second of hesitance both Kuroo and Akaashi jumped out of the vehicle, guns already pointing in the direction the shot was supposedly fired from.

Tsukishima could see Oikawa and Iwaizumi dash out of the other car, weapons trained on possible locations the enemy could emerge from.

Bokuto was talking, he was talking to the blonde, but Tsukishima was still in shock, emotionless eyes trained on the young man with the blue hair and the pale, pale skin that now faded to a transparent white as his legs gave out underneath him.

Why wasn’t anyone as affected as Tsukishima was? Why did no one care?

Hiro was still screaming.

 

* * *

 

 

Everything moved too fast, Akaashis fingers were tingling with sudden burst of energy that set his veins aflame.

He could blend out what was currently happening like that, he could pretend that this was just another job, another routine and nothing else. He could lie to himself, tell himself that the man that was bleeding out behind them was not one of his best friends, could pretend that Kuroos hands didn't shake where they clutched his gun.

Those bastards would pay for what they did, they would have to owe up for every bit of pain they caused Akaashi, and his boyfriends, and all of his friends.

The young man took a deep breath and steadied his grip before he fired the first bullet. Paint and concrete rained down on them from where the roof got damaged but all they received in return was loud laughter ringing from the abandoned building.

They were mocking them, knowing, that Akaashi had so much to lose, assuming, that Kuroos calm demeanor would slowly but surely fall apart, just to leave an anxious mess of anger and guilt behind. The assailants were well aware of how much these young men were hurting, and they enjoyed, and exploited, every bit of it.

“You think this is funny, asshole?” Kuroo screamed up to the strangers and followed it up with another two shots that hit ridiculously close to where Akaashi had hit.

People who thought that anger would diminish Kuroos skills were so wrong.

“Where are they?” Iwaizumi’s voice rung behind them.

“Up the roof,” Kuroo said gritting his teeth, before adding a loud ”Like cowards!”

“Tooru, check on Kenma, I’ll cover you,” Iwaizumi said urgently, before positioning his gun upwards.

Akaashi took a deep breath, willing his fluttering heart to fall into a steady rhythm. Right, Kenma. Kenma was still on the ground, badly injured, most likely bleeding out. He knew that he should keep that in the back of his mind, that he should think about all of those things, that were currently happening, at once, so that he could carefully analyze their situation.

Well, adrenaline doesn’t really give you room to do so. Adrenaline pumps through your veins like fire, like a sugar rush begging you to run or fight but not to stand still. Never stand still. Keep moving and survive.

Humans were rather funny beings to be able to resist such urges.

Akaashi didn’t find it in him to laugh.

“What should we do about the kid?” Oikawa asked. He was kneeling next to Hiro, carefully coaxing the hysterical child into his arms, while he attempted to fasten his own jacket securely around Kenmas chest, where blood was still oozing out.

“I don’t know, give it to Tsukishima or Bo or something,” Kuroo gritted out between clenched teeth as his sharp eyes still scanned the rooftops, ready to pounce in case something moved.

That was when a second shot rang through the air, Akaashi could hear himself screaming when the spiralling bullet tore through his cheek, blood and flesh clung to his ear and shoulder as Kuroo raised his arm to fire at the rooftop.

“Get down, Keji,” he warned, eyes frantic.

Akaashi slowly inhaled.

There was no hole in his cheek, the metal had only grazed him, but it still hurt like hell when his muscles tightened under the damaged skin.

“We should go in,” Hajime bit out, clearly relucent. They all knew that entering that building was similar to a death sentence, but continuing to stand out on these streets just put a big target sign onto them. It gave those bastards control.

“What the hell do you want?” Akaashi recognized his own voice, but not those words. The wound stung with every syllable that tore itself from his dried up throat. “Why are you doing this?”

Eery silence reigned as the adults awaited a response.

Kenmas breathing turned frantic behind them, and so did Hiro’s crying.

“Dad?” Akaashi didn’t know what the hell he was doing, he was desperate and scared and exhausted, he just wanted to go home. He wanted to sit on the kitchen counter and watch Kuroo and Tsukishima bicker, he wanted to feel Bokuto’s hands press against his thighs and his grin against his neck, he wanted to sit in his study and try to find a basic grasp on germans complex grammar that Kenma adored so much.

Instead he was here. These streets felt like a battlefield the way they were tainted with blood and the sorrow and tension was so thick, Akaashi swore you could cut it with a knife.

Maybe this was karma laughing at him, asking him if he really thought he could just move on after what he’s done.

“You ain’t no son of mine.”

Another shot.

This time Kuroo hit.

The man on top of the building staggered as the force of the bullet forced itself against what seemed to be a bulletproof vest.

_‘Then who am I?’_

“Then why are you doing this?” Akaashis voice broke at the end of his sentence and he hated how vulnerable he sounded. He just prayed that the fire in his eyes made up for the force that his words lacked.

He wanted violence.

He wanted to see this man fall, he wanted to see him bleed and scream and pay for what he did.

He destroyed Akaashi, and the man had never let himself dwell on this disappointment and anger he felt towards his very own father, but seeing a child -his brother-, kneel next to the dying body of one of the only people he had ever considered a friend did things to him.

Keji deserved this hate.

He was allowed to hate the person that ruined his life no matter what. He was allowed to wish bad things to those that wanted to hurt him and he deserved the want for revenge more than anyone on this street.

“Come up and find out,” the man was too calm, he was too smug. Is this what a monster looks like? Unmoved, devoid of regret.

He stepped back, disappearing into the hideout the cowart had built for himself.

Akaashi’s legs moved before his head had even settled on a decision. His body knew what to do.

“Take Kenma with you,” he said. “I have to finish this myself.”

“I won’t let you go alone,” Kuroo roared. “I won’t let you go and kill yourself, Keji. I’ll come with you.”

Akaashi inhaled. Then he looked up and locked eyes with his boyfriend. “I love you too.”

And he ran.

Kuroo cursed as he tried to catch up with the younger man, leaving Iwaizumi to shield Oikawa, who was trying to carefully hoist Kenma up while keeping the makeshift bandages in place, and Hiro, who clung to Tooru’s jacket like his life depended on it.

 

_"Death is a weird thing._

_If it comes it comes._

_But it never quite leaves._

_Does that mean that it’s always around us?"_

 

The inside of the building was dirty, and there were forgotten tools strewn around on the floor, making those bare concrete floors and walls look even more abandoned than they already did.

Akaashi could hear his own heartbeat echo from them. Or maybe that was just the blood pumping through his ears as he attempted to catch his own breath.

Kuroo sunk into his shadow like he was meant to be there, like he wasn’t used to being the light that blinded the front, while his boyfriends acted invisibly behind him.

The stairs sounded like they were giving out beneath them, like they were warning them of falling to their own death. But this wasn’t a decision. It was either do or die and Akaashi was tired of running away.

You have to face your problems, maybe to resolve them, maybe to destroy them, but if you keep avoiding them they will come back and hurt you. Murder you. Because that’s exactly what this world is trying to do.

Maybe that’s why Kuroo was so fond of weapons, maybe that’s why Bokuto was hiding in a world of numbers and formulas, maybe that’s why Tsukishima was falling apart-

This world was trying to kill them, to kill all of them and that was why Akaashi decided to kill it back. If all the people around him were monsters, then he just had to be scarier, if everyone around him was cruel, he just had to be even more merciless.

His feet drummed against steel and concrete as he climbed upstairs.

 

_"If death is all around us_

_then it’s the only thing that will follow us all through life._

_Does that scare you?_

_Or are you just as glad as I am?_

_Glad that I’ll never be alone."_

 

“We should split up,” Akaashi said as he took in the various rooms that strung along the hallways of the building. They had no idea how to get to the roof, they had a disadvantage and somehow they had to make up for that.

“You have your earpiece, right?” Kuroo nodded in confirmation.

They had to take a shot and attempt to use the fact that they were outnumbering Akaashi’s dad. They had to find him and cage him in, they had no time.

Kuroo went left and Akaashi run straight down the hallway. This building had looked smaller from the outside but now that they were inside it was pretty clear that this probably was supposed to be some kind of office building, once upon a time.

They had to find the stairs.

 _“Iwaizumi said that the guy didn’t show up again so he might have gone inside,”_ Bokuto spoke into the earpiece.

Maybe they didn’t have to find the stairs after all.

They were no longer the hunters, they were nothing but prey.

Akaashi’s mouth split open into a wild grin. Didn’t his dad know not to mess with wild beasts? Because you might have guns and shields, but they didn’t just have fangs and claws but also desperation and the want to live. A caged tiger could take down an army if it wanted to.

Akaashi could take down an army if he wanted to.

He kicked down the first door, that barely gave any resistance before he entered the room. Nothing. Nothing but dust that gathered around the window, giving the entire room a gloomy feeling of dread.

He continued but was only met with similar sights.

Sometimes there were still tools, or a forgotten lunch box but mostly the only things that greeted him were the corpses of spiders that once thought that they had found a home in the dull concrete cubic.

He was in a room near the end of the hallway when he heard it.

Steps.

They were coming towards his direction.

“Someone’s following me,” he hissed through clenched teeth as he spun around, gun raised. He was ready for Him. He was ready to take Him down.

“Get out of there, immediately!” Kuroo whispered back, already breathless from where he started hurrying to the place he suspected his boyfriend to be in.

“You know I can’t.”

He exhaled, taking a step towards the exit.

“This ends now.”

 

“Oh god, is he breathing?” Tsukishima rushed out of the car towards them. His own boyfriends running straight into the building, straight into this so clearly set up trap, had torn him out of his stupor.

“Barely,” Iwaizumi huffed, eyes and barrel still trained to the rooftops.

“We need to get him to a hospital,” Oikawa said urgently. He carefully lied Kenma on the backseat of their car, and oh so mindful tightening the fabric around his chest. The blood may had stopped oozing out of him, but the stain forming on the bandages still increased steadily and his heartbeat grew slower by the second.

“Is he okay?” Hiros voice was so small, but not in the emotionless way it had been before.

He truly looked like a child that moment, scared eyes red from his own tears and his hands gripping his own shirt like a lifeline.

“Hey, hey,” Oikawa said softly and carefully kneeled in front of him.

“Right now he isn’t,” his kind eyes didn’t waver when he carefully untangled the boys fingers and took his small fists into his own hands. “But he will be.”

He slowly drew the child closer to him. “And so will you. It’s over, okay? You’re safe with us and we’ll keep you save. You have nothing to fear.”

Hiro looked at him for a second, skepsis clear. He must have heard that promise before, but something about Oikawa's own wet eyes and his small, hopeful smile seemed to convince the boy.

He let himself fall into the man’s embrace, burying his face in the crook of the adult’s neck and let himself cry.

Maybe this really was all over.

 

“It’s over.”

Akaashi stood with confidence, his hands were steady and his eyes like steel.

This man had already ruined too much, it was time to destroy the root of the problem, instead of cleaning up after the damage it kept causing.

“It is,” the man confirmed, his own gun shaking in his grip.

“I have one last question though,” Akaashi said. It wasn’t a request but a demand. An order. He refused to be looked down at anymore, now that there weren’t multiple stories that separated the two of them.

“Why did you do all of this? Why couldn’t I just leave? Why weren’t you satisfied with just that?” There were accusations and anger dripping from every word. They clouded the hallway red.

“You killed her. You killed your mother.” The answer was simple, indeed so simple, that Akaashi just scoffed. So what? That had been ten years ago, if it had bothered his _father_ so much he could have done something about it way before Akaashi had even learnt how to defend himself. He could have gone to the police, report him as missing, could have told them that he didn’t just disappear along with his partner.

“She wasn’t my mother,” there was no hate now, he was just stating a fact. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

“What? ‘you mean Yuki?” a throaty laugh escaped the man. “I don’t care about that, she was getting clingy right around that time too, even better that you got rid of her.”

Akaashi’s jaw clenched.

“No, you killed _your_ mother.”

“I don’t even know her.”

“So? She knew you, and for some reason when she got sick she suddenly wanted to see you.” The mans gun started shaking more as anger and sorrow twisted his face into a grimace.

Akaashi stilled.

“She was so weak, and for some fucking reason all she wanted was you! You were never there, you were a mistake. I was the one who loved her, who stayed with her even after she wanted a child, even though I didn’t. I stayed with her when she got sick and stopped going to work, even when I had to somehow bring in twice as much money to cover her medical costs. It was me! But she only ever asked for you and Hiro, you useless brats don’t deserve her!”

Monsters aren’t supposed to show emotion.

Because that

would prove

that they are human, just like us.

Akaashi knew that, so when he pulled the trigger he refused to let his face waver from cold determination.


	12. Chapter 12

Akaashi didn’t remember how they got home.

One second he was standing in a puddle of blood, staring down at the corpse of the man who was the reason he existed in the first place, and in the next, he was sitting on his couch in his apartment while people were bustling around and hectic voices filled the air.

He could hear Kenma cursing softly in german in the next room and there was a child sitting in front of him, crying softly.

“Hi”, Akaashi said, unsure why. “I’m your brother.”

The boy, Hiro, sniffed softly. “Okay.”

There was a short silence. “Is he going to be alright?”, Hiro then asked, unmistakably referring to Kenma. Somehow the boy looked even younger right now, or maybe he just finally looked his age. Hiro was nothing but a child with pudgy cheeks and wide, curious eyes that filled with tears when he was scared and the second Akaashi realized that he too started tearing up.

“Hey, come here”, he said softly and slipped down from the couch to crouch in front of the child. “Everything is going to be okay now, I promise. Kenma is going to be fine, everything is okay.”

He carefully coaxed the crying child into his arms and finally let those tears fall. He was exhausted and scared, barely an adult but still so full of terror and hurt and finally he let down all of his guards, he stopped trying to protect himself and in the safety of his living room, his arms wrapped around somebody who understood his pain so well and with the voices of the people he loved in the background, Akaashi Keji finally let himself fall apart.

His shoulders shook with sobs that he held in for ten years, maybe more, and his ragged breath told stories of sorrow and trauma that had clawed at the inside of his brain for far too long.

Akaashi could feel a hand bury itself in his wild locks and then somebody dropped down beside them and wrapped their arms around them as well.

“Everything is going to be okay”, Bokuto whispered, unknowingly repeating the same words his boyfriend had spoken only minutes earlier. “Kenma is okay, he’s hurt but stable and will fully recover, Yaku said so.”

Hiro slowly calmed down after that, but he did not move away from the embrace and tightly held onto Akaashis shirt and Bokutos sleeve. God knows when the last time was that kid had any kind of stability.

 

* * *

 

 

It felt like an eternity had passed when Akaashi finally blinked himself awake.

He must have fallen asleep without noticing and somebody, most likely one if his boyfriends, had been kind enough to carry him back to the bedroom where a freshly made bed had awaited him.

There was a body next to his, close enough that they shared the same heat under the covers but still far enough not to touch.

Akaashi reached out and curled his fist into the soft cotton shirt the other man was wearing and sleepily dragged himself closer to the person.

“Keji?” a voice asked in the dark. Akaashi smiled when he recognized Tsukishima. “Are you awake?” Keji made a soft, disagreeing sound and buried his face in his boyfriends neck. “Sleep,” he demanded and immediately let himself drift off again.

He didn’t have a good night of sleep for way too long and he sure as hell wouldn’t postpone it any longer for conversations that could wait.

Some time later the body under his own finally relaxed and Tsukishima exhaled into Akaashis hair and the older man swore he could hear an ‘I love you’, though, he wasn’t sure if it was said out loud or just begun seeping into every gesture his boyfriends directed at him. He couldn’t find himself mind not being able to tell the difference and with a soft smile, he too returned to sleep.

The next day came with breakfast and too many people being crammed into their kitchen, which led to Akaashi fleeing the space to go see Kenma for the first time since the incident.

Dread washed over him as he finally opened the door, reluctance had held him back from visiting earlier and it still made him hesitate, but those feelings quickly disappeared when he found Kenma sitting upright in his bed, a Gameboy in his hands and Kuroo sitting next to him on the floor with a book in his lap.

Both of them looked up upon his entrance, though, only Kuroo bothered continuing looking at him.

Akaashi smiled at him and walked over to sit next to him only to rest his chin on the mattress right next to Kenmas hip and continued to stare at him until the man finally sighed annoyed and closed his playing device to acknowledge his friend.

“Yes?” he asked, drawing the vowel out for unnecessarily long.

“How are you?” Akaashi shot back, not thrown off in the least by the irritating question since he was used to the lack of patience Kenma possessed. 

Kenma huffed quietly and dragged his hand through his hair, which drew attention to his bandaged fingers. Akaashi frowned at them and quickly decided to ask about that later since now was the time for other inquiries. 

“I’ve been better,” the man finally mumbled, eyes longingly trailing towards Gameboy. “It’s kinda hard to play like this.” Kenma wiggled his fingers as demonstration and Akaashi knew that it was pretty much anything but a laughing matter but seeing the man pouting at his hands was too hilarious to not at least smile.

“It’s really over isn’t it?” Kenma then asked, finally looking properly at his friend.

Akaashi nodded. “It is, thank god, it is.”

 

* * *

 

 

Oikawa and Iwaizumi left shortly after, claiming that their job was done and thanking them for everything the four men had done for them.

Kenma decided to turn in early to give himself and his wounds some rest, though, Akaashi was sure that the younger man just used his wariness as an excuse to play for another hour or two under his blanket without being disturbed.

But honestly, he couldn’t find himself minding that.

He walked down the hall into their shared living room and let himself fall in Tsukishimas lap, who had been sitting on the couch and mindlessly watching TV.

“Hey there,” Akaashi whispered, burying his face into the crook of his boyfriends neck. 

“Hey yourself,” the blonde whispered back, carefully taking off his glasses before he wrapped his arms around the older man properly and tug him securely against his chest. Akaashi could feel the other ones breath one top of his head and usually, that would annoy him but right now all it did was calm his frantic thoughts and give his weary bones a rest.

If somebody had told him that a steady heartbeat and deep exhales could bring him so much joy he would have laughed at their faces, but now he could feel his muscles losing with every up and down of his lovers chest and the steady rhythm of his heart lulled him into a drowsy sleepiness.

“Oh, is it cuddle time?” a voice interrupted them but Akaashi didn’t bother looking up until another warm body draped itself against his sides and long fingers curled around his neck.

“It definitely is cuddle time,” Kuroo sighed happily and closed his eyes as he held two of his boyfriends in his arms.

Tsukishimas breath slowly evened out and he too fell asleep against the back of the couch, with his face buried in Akaashis locks and his hand intertwined with Kuroos.

Bokuto stood in the entryway when Kuroo finally looked up again, a fond smile on his face and four cups experimentally balanced in his hands. Under any other circumstances that would have been more than worrisome but right now Kuroo only felt warmth explode in his chest and he carefully waved Bokuto over to them.

“We’re okay,” he said.

“We’re okay,” Bokuto replied with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this so many times until I was finally satisfied and though I'm sure some people won't like it I'm just really to be finished tbh  
> This story was quite a rollercoaster and accompanied me through some very interesting turns and twists in my personal life which may be the reason why it's so dear to me.
> 
> But, anyways I really hope you enjoyed it, thank you so so much for the numerous comments and kudos, they made me incredibly happy and I honestly have no idea how to tell you how much I appreciated them!
> 
> If you wanna talk, my tumblr is @nhlchowder just hmu!


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